By Forbes Staff,Leon Neal,Maria Gracia Santillana Linares
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President Donald Trump at a press conference at Chequers in the U.K. at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
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President Donald Trump issued a sudden notice Friday: Employers of H-1B visa holders must now pay a $100,000 fee, an increase from just $995 in registration and lottery fees that companies paid under the existing program.
Needless to say, panic ensued. The administration has since clarified its rules—the fee only applies to new H-1B applicants as of the next lottery cycle—but hundreds, if not thousands of visa holders were forced to rapidly change travel plans and quickly return to the United States.
Still, the change has sent corporate America—the tech industry in particular—into a frenzy. Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and Amazon were just some companies that sent messages to impacted employees over the weekend, telling them to return to the country on Saturday and cancel any foreign travel plans, according to Bloomberg.
H-1B visas are a type of employment sponsorship that allows companies to temporarily hire workers in occupations requiring “a body of highly specialized knowledge” and a bachelor’s degree or higher. The visa is popular among fashion modeling agencies, medical and healthcare firms, and companies recruiting folks in engineering, finance, computer science, architecture and more.
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The biggest beneficiaries of H-1B visas? Amazon, Tata Consultancy, Microsoft and Meta, according to data from this year’s lottery.
But it’s not a simple process. H-1B visas are capped each year: For fiscal year 2026, only 120,141 were awarded out of the 358,737 that companies applied for.
While employees with H-1Bs scrambled to return home, employers will bear the brunt of President Trump’s new proclamation. Especially popular in the tech sector, tech leaders are already debating whether the fee is a net gain or loss in their race to hire top talent. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Netflix chairman Reed Hastings have expressed optimism about the higher fee, reports the Wall Street Journal, while startup founders worry about the high cost on already small talent budgets.
Meanwhile, other countries are jumping at the chance to compete for talent that would traditionally be bound for the U.S. The U.K. for example, is reportedly considering cutting visa fees for highly skilled workers.
Hope you have a lovely week, and happy reading!
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News from the world of work.
Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to the air on Tuesday night after the late night host was suspended by ABC over his comments following Charlie Kirk’s death, though a third of ABC-owned stations still won’t air the show. Kimmel was perhaps the most public figure to face professional repercussions for comments in the wake of Kirk’s death, but others, including a Washington Post columnist, a Virginia anesthesiologist and a number of American Airlines workers were also let go because of their comments.
If you’ve seen internet videos of dancing baseball players wearing bright yellow jerseys, you might be familiar with the Savannah Bananas, baseball’s zaniest team. As owner Jesse Cole has grown the team to an estimated $500 million valuation, he’s kept two groups in mind: the fans and the players. Forbes’ Justin Birnbaum reports on the franchise’s revenue growth, despite keeping ticket prices relatively low, and Cole’s focus on the conditions for his staff and players. Players earn two to three times what minor leaguers usually make, despite playing far fewer games.
Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Jerry Greenfield announced his departure from the famed ice cream brand last week, alleging that parent company Unilever had taken away the brand’s independence and “silenced” its social activism.
Job ghosting has now turned to “career catfishing,” according to a new Monster report. Nearly 80% of workers report having been tricked into accepting a position that didn’t match the job description. But employees are also catfishing their employers by exaggerating their previous responsibilities, abilities and even their educational background.
NUMBER TO NOTE
Bank of America’s new minimum wage for all part-time and full-time hourly employees, meeting a pledge to raise the base salary. The increase amounts to a minimum annual salary of more than $50,000 for full-time workers.
This CEO’s Advice: “Drive Like You Stole It”
Small business owners say that their employees are using AI in which of the following ways?
A. Glorified Google searches
B. Automated customer service replies
C. Reformatting training materials
D. All of the above
Check if you got it right here.
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