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Is FedEx's H-1B hiring really linked to American layoffs? Firm says ‘We sought fewer than…’
FedEx clarifies H-1B visa holders comprise less than 0.05% of its US workforce, with fewer than 100 visas requested for new hires in 2025.
FedEx recently encountered criticism following a report from Dallas Express that claimed the company was granted a federal contract worth $2.2 billion in 2022 and has subsequently employed hundreds of foreign workers on H-1B visas. The move, as per the report, resulted in a decrease in the number of American positions occupied across various regions of the US.
However, FedEx issued a clarification following the uproar generated by the report on social media, where some individuals criticized the company's Indian-origin CEO, Rajesh “Raj” Subramaniam, regarding the alleged increase in H-1B visas hiring.
“FedEx CEO. Indian nepotism never fails. They will always replace you,” one X user said.
FedEx sought ‘fewer than 100 H-1B visas’ for new hires in 2025
Amidst the backlash following the report, FedEX told HT.com, “Team members on H-1B visas make up less than .05% of our U.S. workforce. In 2025, we sought fewer than 100 H-1B visas for new hires. These trends are consistent with our regular employment patterns.”
“Our current US-TRANSCOM contract has been in place since 2022. Nothing new was signed or announced as the Dallas Express headline inaccurately states. The contract is a general delivery services contract with the U.S. government known as a Next Generation Delivery Services contract. UPS and DHL also have Next Generation Delivery Services contracts with US-TRANSCOM. We have had delivery service contracts with the U.S. government for more than 30 years.”
No major uptick in H-1B visa holders in 2024 or 2025, says FedEx
In 2024, the majority of FedEx operating companies consolidated into Federal Express Corporation. Since then, FedEx has continued to transfer employees, including H-1B visa holders, to Federal Express Corporation, the firm stated. Consequently, necessary changes in employment status were submitted. “Thus, we have not had a measurable uptick in H-1B visa holders in 2024 or 2025.”
On the other hand, the Dallas Express report claims that the new hiring in the firm occurred simultaneously with the layoffs of American employees, which has raised alarms among conservative groups. Moreover, data referenced in the related article states that the number of H-1B workers connected to FedEx surged from merely a few dozen in 2022 to several hundred in 2024 and 2025.
Speaking about the layoffs, FedEx mentioned that staff reductions are taking place at certain operational facilities since they transition to a van, one neighborhood approach as part of their multi-year network transformation strategy. The positions affected “do not qualify for H-1B visas,” it noted.
Meanwhile, experts who evaluated the USCIS Data Hub informed Newsweek that despite the article's assertion of a notable increase in H-1B hires by FedEx and its subsidiaries, the data suggests a different conclusion. In the fiscal years 2023 to 2025, FedEx entities submitted applications for 702 H-1B workers, in contrast to 1,274 applications during the fiscal years 2020 to 2022. This represents a decline of approximately 500 H-1B hires over the more recent three-year timeframe, according to the experts.
FedEx layoffs
In late 2025, the FedEX submitted a notice to the Texas Workforce Commission stating that it would be cutting 856 jobs at its FedEx Supply Chain Logistics & Electronics facility located in Coppell, Texas.
Earlier in the year, additional layoffs and job reductions took place at various other FedEx locations, including the loss of hundreds of positions in Fort Worth and other sites.
FedEx clarified that these layoffs were not connected to H-1B visas, stating to HT.com, “recent FedEx Supply Chain WARN notices impacted team members in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area who were hired as part of customer contracts. These were operational roles that are not qualified for H-1B visas.”
Is FedEx's H-1B hiring really linked to American layoffs?
James Hollis, a US business immigration attorney, told Newsweek that there's no connection between FedEx hiring H-1Bs and its layoffs. “They're not the same positions, they're not in the same area. They seem to be completely unrelated.”
“In the environment in which we are currently in the US, people are drawing lines between government contracts, layoffs and immigrants because they want to stir up controversy,” Hollis said.
