Under High Pressure of H-1B Layoffs: How to Solve the US Status Dilemma?

　　2026 has just begun, but the air in Silicon Valley has cooled down first. Recently, "The New York Times" revealed that Meta has officially launched a new round of layoffs, targeting the Reality Labs division where its Metaverse business is located. The department currently has about 15,000 employees, and the layoff ratio is as high as 10%, meaning over a thousand employees will be forced to leave at the beginning of the new year.

　　For many, the first "notification" of the new year is not a performance evaluation, nor a promotion opportunity, but an email terminating the employment relationship.

 

　　01. From Meta to the Whole Industry:

　　Tech Layoffs are Becoming "Normalized"

　　Meta's layoffs are not an isolated case. According to WARN Tracker statistics, in January 2026 alone, more than 100 US companies submitted layoff warning notices, involving multiple industries such as technology, manufacturing, medicine, finance, and telecommunications, including both large technology platforms and traditional industry giants.

　　Looking back at 2025, total layoffs in the global tech industry exceeded 120,000, with the US accounting for nearly 75%. It can be seen that layoffs have gradually evolved from phased adjustments to a normalized phenomenon at the industry level.

 

　　02. Employment Environment for International Students: Not Just Hard,

　　But Systematically Unfriendly

　　In this round of adjustments, the most directly impacted are not management, but the group of international students who have just entered the workplace or have not yet established a firm foothold.

　　The reality is deteriorating rapidly:

　　• Many tech companies have frozen campus recruitment, and internship positions have been significantly reduced

　　• Junior engineering and basic R&D positions continue to decrease

　　• Recruitment requirements are generally raised to 3-5 years or more of experience

　　Data shows that the overall employment rate of US programmers has fallen sharply in the past two years, and the unemployment rate of young practitioners aged 20-30 has risen significantly. For international students, this is not just a problem of "intense competition," but the entrance to the US workplace itself is narrowing.

　　What is more cruel is that even if employed successfully, once laid off, visa status immediately enters a countdown.

 

　　03. H-1B: International Students'

　　Most Fragile "Safety Rope"

　　For a long time, H-1B has been the core channel for international students to work in the US, but in the current environment, the uncertainty of this path is infinitely magnified.

　　• Limited quotas, long-term reliance on lottery

　　• A weighting mechanism introduced starting in 2026; the higher the salary, the greater the advantage

　　• Fresh graduates are at a natural disadvantage

　　Even if the lottery is won successfully, once laid off, there is only a 60-day buffer period to find a new employer. Against the background of recruitment contraction and corporate caution in hiring, this window period is almost equivalent to "forced departure" for most people.

　　In the past year, many international students have experienced situations such as "laid off immediately after joining" or "losing their job before status is stable," forcing their plans to stay in the US to be interrupted.

 

　　04. When Employment is No Longer Stable

　　Status Must Be Planned in Advance

　　The shocks in the technology industry tell us an increasingly clear fact: in a highly uncertain employment environment, the status issue is no longer an option to "consider later," but a core decision that must be front-loaded.

　　For international students who still rely on work visas, career development and status are highly bound; one layoff is enough to overturn years of planning. It is against this background that more and more families are beginning to re-evaluate the path —— is it possible to solve the status problem in advance outside of their career, fundamentally reducing systemic risks?

 

　　EB-5: A Stable Path for Planning to Stay in the US

　　Under the current policy framework, US EB-5 investment immigration is becoming one of the solutions focused on by international student families.

　　Currently, the new EB-5 law is still in the window period of no bulletin scheduling backlog. Eligible applicants can submit immigration applications and status adjustments simultaneously within the US:

　　• Legal long-term stay

　　• Can apply for Work Permit and Advance Parole

　　• Employment no longer relies on employers and visas

　　• Possess sufficient buffer space even when facing layoffs

　　Once status exists independently of the employer, the initiative, stability, and choice space for international students in job hunting will undergo fundamental changes.

　　The first wave of tech layoffs in 2026 came earlier and more violently than expected. The industry is changing, rules are changing, and opportunity structures are also changing. If you are assessing the long-term feasibility of developing in the US, or hope to establish certainty in an uncertain cycle, now is the window period to immigrate through EB-5.

　　WorldWay holds two high-quality EB-5 rural projects to help investors realize US identity planning steadily, without scheduling delays, and efficiently, quickly stepping onto the road to a new life in the US. Global quotas are limited, seats are scarce, first come first served!

　　In addition, the Trump Gold Card Immigration Project is officially open for application. WorldWay has taken the lead in launching Gold Card acceptance services to help applicants efficiently advance the application process and grasp the critical time window.