Microsoft just told 4,800 employees they no longer have a job. That is about 2.1% of its global workforce, and 1,600 of those cuts hit Xbox right away.
The same company was approved this year to hire 2,273 employer-sponsored H-1B foreign workers.
The comparison demands one caveat: nobody has shown that the same 1,600 Xbox workers, or the same 4,800 companywide, were swapped out one-for-one for visa holders.
The political response has been blunt.
The available data show overlapping corporate decisions, not a direct replacement map.
Those two numbers sitting next to each other are why so many American tech workers are angry this week.
The anger does not require a perfect one-to-one match. A visa program sold to Americans as a narrow tool for hard-to-find talent is running full speed alongside yet another mass layoff at one of the richest technology companies on the planet.
According to The Associated Press, Microsoft is eliminating 4,800 jobs, roughly 2.1% of its workforce, with 1,600 immediate cuts landing at Xbox.
Sharma said Xbox expects another 1,600 job cuts during the fiscal year that began in July. That pushes the planned Xbox reductions to about 3,200 people.
AP reported the company is also spinning off four game-development studios as part of the restructuring. Microsoft acquired gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $69 billion nearly three years ago, a deal meant to broaden its game portfolio and build a streaming-subscription business.
The cuts followed voluntary buyouts Microsoft offered to about 8,750 employees in May. More than 30% of the eligible workers accepted those offers, according to AP.