Companies Laying Off H-1B Workers in 2026 — WARN Act Data

The intersection of mass layoffs and H-1B visa sponsorship creates a uniquely precarious situation for hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in the United States. When a company that sponsors H-1B employees files a WARN Act layoff notice, the consequences ripple far beyond lost paychecks — affected workers face a 60-day countdown that determines whether they can stay in the country.

By cross-referencing WARN Act filings with H-1B petition data, we can identify which companies are cutting jobs while simultaneously employing significant numbers of visa-sponsored workers. This analysis uses public data from two federal sources: state WARN Act filings (aggregated by WARN Firehose) and Department of Labor LCA filings (which all H-1B employers must submit).

How We Identify Companies Affecting H-1B Workers

Not every layoff affects H-1B workers, and not every H-1B employer is laying off. To identify the companies most likely impacting visa holders, we cross-reference three datasets:

• WARN Act filings: Public notices filed by employers before mass layoffs, sourced from all 50 state workforce agencies and updated daily in our WARN database
• LCA petition data: Labor Condition Applications filed with the Department of Labor, which every H-1B employer must submit. Our database contains over 5 million LCA records dating back to FY2012
• H-1B petition data: USCIS approval data for H-1B petitions, covering 800,000+ records from FY2009 to FY2023

When a company appears in both the WARN filings and the LCA/H-1B datasets with significant recent activity, we flag it as a company whose layoffs are likely affecting visa-sponsored workers.

Industries Most Affected

The overlap between H-1B employment and recent layoffs is concentrated in a handful of industries where foreign worker sponsorship is most common:

Technology

Technology remains the largest H-1B sponsor category and has also been the sector with the most WARN Act filings over the past two years. Software companies, cloud infrastructure providers, and IT services firms account for a disproportionate share of both H-1B petitions and layoff notices. The combination of elevated interest rates, AI-driven restructuring, and post-pandemic hiring corrections continues to drive headcount reductions across the sector.

Financial Services

Banks, fintech companies, and insurance firms are significant H-1B sponsors, particularly for quantitative analysis, software engineering, and data science roles. Several major financial institutions have filed WARN notices in 2026 as they consolidate operations and automate back-office functions.

Consulting and Professional Services

The large consulting firms — including the Big Four accounting firms and major management consultancies — sponsor thousands of H-1B workers annually. When these firms reduce headcount, the impact on visa holders is substantial because the consulting model relies heavily on specialized foreign talent.

Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals

While less commonly associated with H-1B layoffs, pharmaceutical companies and healthcare technology firms have filed notable WARN notices in 2026, particularly related to pipeline failures, patent cliffs, and post-merger integration. Research scientists and clinical data analysts on H-1B visas are affected.

The Data: What WARN Filings Reveal

WARN Act filings provide a 60-day advance window into upcoming layoffs. For H-1B workers at affected companies, this advance notice is invaluable — it provides time to begin a job search and H-1B transfer process before the layoff date arrives.

Here is what the data shows for major H-1B employers filing WARN notices in recent months:

Industry	WARN Filings (2026 YTD)	Avg. Workers per Filing	H-1B Relevance
Technology	110+	78	Very High
Financial Services	57+	50	High
Consulting / Prof. Services	1+	39	High
Healthcare / Pharma	58+	74	Moderate
Manufacturing	95+	131	Low-Moderate

Technology layoffs affect H-1B workers disproportionately because the sector employs the highest concentration of visa holders. A tech company laying off 500 workers may have 50-150 H-1B employees among them, whereas a manufacturing plant of similar size might have fewer than 10.

To see the latest WARN filings and cross-reference them with H-1B data for specific companies, use the H-1B Risk Checker or browse H-1B employer pages.

Geographic Concentration

H-1B layoffs are not evenly distributed across the country. They cluster in the metro areas where tech and finance employment is densest:

• San Francisco Bay Area — The highest concentration of H-1B workers and the highest volume of tech WARN filings. Silicon Valley layoffs have an outsized impact on the visa worker population.
• Seattle metro — Amazon, Microsoft, and the broader cloud computing ecosystem drive both H-1B employment and recent layoff activity.
• New York City — Financial services and fintech layoffs affect H-1B workers in Manhattan and the surrounding area.
• Austin, TX — The growing tech hub has seen both rapid H-1B hiring and, more recently, WARN filings from companies that over-hired during 2021-2022.
• Research Triangle, NC — Pharmaceutical and biotech layoffs affect H-1B researchers in the Raleigh-Durham corridor.

What H-1B Workers Should Do Right Now

If you are an H-1B worker at a company that has filed a WARN notice — or at a company showing risk signals — take these steps immediately:

1. Check your employer's WARN status. Use the H-1B Risk Checker to see if your employer has filed any WARN Act notices. The tool cross-references layoff data with H-1B filings to give you a comprehensive risk assessment.
2. Set up alerts. Create a free WARN alert for your employer name. You will receive an email notification within 24 hours of any new WARN filing.
3. Research potential sponsors. Browse the H-1B employer database to identify companies in your field that are actively sponsoring visas and not showing layoff signals.
4. Understand your options. Read our H-1B Layoff Guide for a detailed breakdown of the 60-day grace period, and our H-1B Transfer Guide for step-by-step transfer instructions.
5. Consult an attorney. Immigration law has significant nuances. A 30-minute consultation with an immigration attorney can clarify your specific situation and available options.

How WARN Firehose Tracks This

WARN Firehose is the only platform that cross-references WARN Act layoff data from all 50 states with H-1B/LCA petition data from the Department of Labor. Our database is updated daily, and our risk scoring system combines multiple signals:

• WARN Act filings — active and recent layoff notices for the company
• SEC 8-K filings — restructuring charges, workforce reduction disclosures
• Bankruptcy records — Chapter 11 filings that often precede or accompany layoffs
• LCA filing trends — declining LCA volumes may signal a hiring freeze or contraction
• H-1B petition history — historical sponsorship patterns and approval rates

This multi-source approach provides a more complete picture than any single dataset alone. A company might not have filed a WARN notice yet, but declining LCA filings combined with an SEC restructuring disclosure could signal trouble before the official layoff announcement.

The Bigger Picture: Policy and Workforce Impact

The vulnerability of H-1B workers during layoffs raises broader questions about the structure of employer-sponsored immigration. Unlike permanent residents or citizens, H-1B workers cannot simply collect unemployment and search for a new job at their own pace. The 60-day window creates urgency that can lead to accepting suboptimal positions, relocating under pressure, or leaving the country despite having built careers and lives in the United States.

For employers, the data also carries implications. Companies that sponsor large numbers of H-1B workers and then conduct mass layoffs face reputational costs in the talent market. Future H-1B candidates research employer stability, and WARN Act data is increasingly part of that research. The WARN Firehose database makes this information accessible to anyone.

For workforce development boards, recruiters, and community organizations, the intersection of WARN data and H-1B employment highlights populations that need targeted support during layoff events — including legal resources, job placement assistance, and community services.