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The October 2026 action described by Axios targets PERM labor certifications used in some employer-sponsored green-card cases—not the H-1B visa program. It does not, as reported, suspend H-1B status or cancel existing H-1B visas. Amazon’s reported layoffs and its high H-1B approval totals raise questions about hiring, but the available reporting does not show that H-1B workers replaced laid-off Amazon employees or that the PERM action has reshaped the U.S. job market.
What the October 2026 action targets
Axios reported in October 2026 that the announced measure blocks a green-card sponsorship pathway for workers at specified employers. The key term is PERM: a labor-certification step used in some employer-sponsored permanent-residency cases. It is not another name for H-1B, and the reported action is not a general suspension of H-1B visas.
Vice President JD Vance, quoted by Axios, said: “We want you to continue to grow and to employ a lot of people, but we want you to employ American workers.” That statement describes the administration’s stated aim; it does not establish what the policy will do to hiring or employment overall.
H-1B and PERM are different processes
| Question | H-1B | PERM |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | Temporary, employer-sponsored work authorization for specialty occupations. | A labor certification used in some employer-sponsored permanent-residency pathways. |
| What does the reported October action target? | Axios reported that it does not suspend the H-1B program or cancel existing H-1B visas. | Axios reported that it blocks this green-card sponsorship pathway for workers at specified employers. |
| Does it apply to every worker or employer? | No broad H-1B suspension was reported. | The reported measure concerns specified employers, not all employers or all green-card applicants. |
| What is established about already-issued green cards? | Not applicable. | The Axios account cited here does not specify an effect on already-issued green cards. |
Brookings describes H-1B as generally lasting three years, with a possible three-year extension. An H-1B worker’s temporary work authorization and an employer’s steps toward permanent residency are related in some workers’ plans, but they are not the same legal process. The October action, as reported, concerns the latter pathway. The account does not specify how it treats every pending case or future application, so workers with an active case should confirm their individual situation with their employer’s immigration counsel or a qualified immigration attorney.
What Amazon’s H-1B figures do—and do not—show
Brookings reported that Amazon had the highest company total of H-1B approvals in fiscal year 2025, with more than 13,000, and more than 2,000 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. A 2025 release from the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary reported 10,044 Amazon H-1B employee approvals for FY2025. Those figures differ; without reconciling their underlying definitions, they should be attributed to their respective publishers rather than combined or treated as interchangeable.
Approval totals are not a count of Amazon employees laid off, nor do they establish that each approval corresponds to a newly hired worker. They also do not reveal whether any particular approved worker filled a role once held by a laid-off employee. A comparison between a company’s visa approvals and its layoff announcements cannot, by itself, demonstrate replacement or causation.
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How the layoff announcements fit in
The Associated Press reported that Amazon announced about 14,000 corporate job cuts in October 2025, followed by about 16,000 in January 2026. AP said affected U.S.-based staff would have 90 days to look for an internal role. These are reported announced cuts, not evidence that H-1B policy caused them. The coverage cited here does not establish that the workers affected were replaced by H-1B hires.
Amazon’s restructuring and its H-1B approvals can both be relevant to debate about hiring, but they describe different things: announced corporate reductions on one side, and immigration approvals reported under particular data definitions on the other. Without job-level evidence connecting a specific eliminated position to a subsequent hire, a claim that one group displaced the other goes beyond what these reports show.
The $100,000 H-1B fee is a separate issue
The reported PERM action should not be conflated with a separate H-1B fee development. AP reported that a federal judge struck down a $100,000 H-1B fee in June 2026. That ruling and the October PERM measure concern different policies. The cited AP account does not establish the status of any later appeal, stay, or agency action, so the ruling should not be taken here as a complete statement of the fee’s current legal status.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Could this reshape the U.S. job market?
It could affect decisions by the named employers and workers who rely on the specified green-card sponsorship route, but the reporting available so far does not demonstrate a broader labor-market effect. The action’s scope, any subsequent implementation details, and employers’ responses matter before its consequences can be measured. A restriction on one permanent-residency step is not evidence that H-1B hiring has stopped, and Amazon’s layoff announcements do not prove that H-1B workers caused U.S. job losses.
Companies’ hiring choices are also being influenced by other factors. Computerworld quoted Pareekh Jain, CEO of Pareekh Consulting, saying: “AI investments are changing company hiring strategy.” That is one explanation offered for changing hiring patterns, not proof of what drove Amazon’s specific cuts. At this stage, the responsible conclusion is that the policy creates uncertainty for affected sponsorship cases while its effect on overall hiring and employment remains unestablished.
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