Today, layoffs at major tech companies are no longer isolated news; they are becoming the new normal in the technology industry.
Recently, news of another round of layoffs at Microsoft has emerged, affecting multiple divisions including Xbox gaming, sales, and consulting. It is worth noting that Microsoft is not laying off employees due to operational difficulties. On the contrary, its cloud business continues to grow, and its profit performance remains impressive.
This illustrates a reality: today's layoffs at major companies are not necessarily because the companies are not profitable, but because enterprises are continuously adjusting their personnel structures based on business direction, cost pressures, and organizational efficiency.
Under the wave of layoffs, how much confidence remains for international students' dreams of staying in the U.S.?
Layoffs are not isolated cases, but an industry trend
In the short term, these layoffs may not stop.
Microsoft has actually already signaled this. In its earnings call this April, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood stated that the company's total headcount will decrease year-over-year in the 2027 calendar year. In other words, personnel adjustments are not a one-time short-term action, but may continue for some time to come.
If we look at the entire U.S. technology industry, this trend becomes even more apparent.
According to statistics, in the first half of 2026, the U.S. technology industry has already announced 139,000 layoffs, a sharp increase of 83% compared to the same period last year.
At the same time, the companies involved in layoffs are not limited to Microsoft. GitLab laid off 350 people, accounting for about 14% of its total employees.
Google reduced its direct headcount by 35%.
Meta laid off 8,000 employees and reassigned 7,000 others.
Intuit laid off approximately 3,000 employees, accounting for 17% of its total staff.
Looking at these data points together, the signal conveyed is very clear: there are still opportunities at major companies, but major companies no longer equate to stability.
In the past, many international students viewed entering a major company as a key step in their development in the U.S. As long as they secured an internship or a full-time offer, it seemed they could follow the path of OPT, H-1B, and a Green Card step by step.
But now, frequent layoffs, faster job changes, and slower hiring paces mean that the uncertainty along this path is increasing.
Under the impact of layoffs, immigration status risks are rising simultaneously
For native U.S. employees, layoffs mean looking for a new job.
But for international students and H-1B holders, layoffs affect not only career development but also their legal status.
Especially for H-1B, it is inherently highly dependent on the employer. Once laid off, the applicant usually needs to find a new employer to take over their status within a limited time, or convert to another legal status. However, in a phase of intensive industry layoffs, reduced job openings, and more cautious corporate hiring, finding a suitable new opportunity in a short time is not an easy task.
This is also the biggest difference between international students and local job seekers.
While others lose a job, international students may simultaneously face multiple pressures such as job interruption, status expiration, and the disruption of their plans to stay in the U.S.
More realistically, H-1B itself also carries the uncertainty of the lottery and employer support. Even if a student is highly capable, has a good academic background, and successfully receives an offer, they still have to face issues such as the lottery result, whether the company supports the application, and whether the position is stable in the long term.
When layoffs become an industry norm, betting one's future entirely on one employer, one offer, and one H-1B lottery is becoming increasingly risky.
Planning for staying in the U.S. cannot just focus on offers
The technology industry is still worth striving for, and offers from major companies still have value. However, for families with long-term goals of staying in the U.S., today's planning cannot stop at the level of "whether the child can find a job."
Career planning solves: whether one can enter the U.S. job market.
Status planning solves: whether one can stably stay and develop in the U.S.
If a child plans to study, intern, and work in the U.S. in the future, the family needs to think about status pathways earlier. Because once faced with layoffs, job adjustments, H-1B lottery failure, or changes in employer policies, having proactive status arrangements in advance is the only way to reduce passivity.
In other words, status is not a problem that only needs to be considered after graduation, but should be planned in advance along with studies, internships, and job hunting.
EB-5 becomes a backup status option for more families
Against the backdrop of increasing uncertainty in the H-1B pathway, EB-5 investment immigration is becoming an option that more families planning to stay in the U.S. are focusing on.
Compared to the work visa pathway that is highly dependent on employers, EB-5, with its core of compliant investment and job creation, provides applicants with a path to plan for U.S. permanent resident status in advance.
Its value lies not only in obtaining a Green Card, but also in helping families reduce their reliance on a single employer, a single position, and the lottery mechanism.
For families who are currently studying in the U.S., preparing for employment in the U.S., or hoping for their children's long-term development in the U.S., EB-5 can serve as an important status configuration beyond career planning.
With status, children will have more room for choice when job hunting;
With status, they can be more composed when facing layoffs and job changes;
With status, they will have stronger initiative in future education, internships, employment, and long-term development.
Especially under the new EB-5 law, Rural Projects currently possess high window value. The advantages of rural projects, such as no visa backlog, priority processing, and allowing applicants who are in the U.S. with legal status and no visa backlog to perform "concurrent filing," have provided a more flexible status pathway for many families with U.S. plans.
However, policy dividends will not last forever. As reserved quotas continue to be consumed, the risk of invisible backlogs is emerging; the minimum investment amount may also be raised from $800,000 to $900,000-$950,000 or higher on January 1, 2027, and the Grandfather Clause will expire on September 30. For families with clear plans to stay in the U.S., the earlier they evaluate, the more opportunities they have to seize the current window.
Currently, WorldWay holds two high-quality EB-5 projects: "Deer Valley · Snow Ridge Mansion" and "Marriott · Royal Lake Bay Resort", which can provide more stable choices for applicant families.
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