Walmart Halts Job Offers to Candidates Needing H-1B Visas
In September, Trump Administration Added $100,000 Fee for New H-1B Applications in Bid to Overhaul Visa Program, Curb Overuse
Key Takeaways:
- Walmart paused job offers to candidates needing H-1B visas after the Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new applications, people familiar with the matter said.
- The suspension affects mainly corporate roles and highlights the broader impact of the new visa fee, which has drawn lawsuits and criticism from business groups citing higher hiring costs.
- The White House defended the rule as a legal step toward H-1B reform, while employers and visa holders warned it could worsen labor shortages and disrupt recruitment.
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Walmart Inc. has paused offers to candidates requiring H-1B visas, people familiar with the matter said, the latest example of how the Trump administration’s $100,000 visa fees are disrupting workforces.
The current guideline primarily impacts Walmart’s corporate employees, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
Walmart ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
The Trump administration last month slapped a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications in a bid to overhaul the visa program and curb overuse. The move has reverberated across technology and other industries that employ thousands of such visa holders.
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Walmart is the largest user of H-1B visas among major retail chains, employing anestimated2,390 H-1B visa holders, according to government data. That represents a small fraction of its total U.S. workforce of about 1.6 million.
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While it’s among major employers of H-1B recipients, it’s dwarfed byAmazon.comInc., Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc. and other tech giants that rely more heavily on the group.
Amazon.com Inc. ranks No. 1on theTransport Topics Top 100 list of the largest logistics companiesin North America, No. 15 on the private TT100 and No. 1 on theTop 50 Global Freight list.
“Walmart is committed to hiring and investing in the best talent to serve our customers, while remaining thoughtful about our H-1B hiring approach,” a Walmart spokeswoman said.
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The administration also recently issued guidance exempting current visa holders from the fee if they change status, meaning that some immigrants — including those on current student visas — would be exempt from the fee. Still, Walmart and other employers would be required to make the $100,000 payment for workers they sought to hire under the H-1B program not already legally able to work in the U.S.
The pause to new H1-B hiring adds to the confusion that has beset employers and H-1B holders since the change was announced. Workers with visas say it’sfrustratingto face the unpredictability around immigration policies when many have abided by U.S. law, while employers say quotas on visas limit their ability to fill staffing.
“The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially startups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, which was created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the U.S.,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement after the nation’s largest business lobbying group sued the Trump administration earlier this month over its visa system changes.
In response, the White House said the visa changes were legal and an “incremental step towards necessary reforms to the H-1B program.”
Critics have said the program — which wasintroducedin 1990 to address specific labor shortages — undermines employment of skilled U.S. workers. Today, visas are used primarily by the tech industry, which has pointed to a dearth of professionals with science, math and computer skills. Universities and hospitals also rely on them to recruit researchers and lecturers.
“It seems like $100,000 is a fairly arbitrary amount. People are looking at it going, ‘Is this for real?’” said John Veitch, dean for the school of business and management at Notre Dame de Namur University. The ongoing H-1B changes, coupled with artificial intelligence advancing evolving roles, could upend workforces, especially for small- to medium-size companies, Veitch said.
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