Ex-Meta Employee Reveals 88% Of Team Held H-1B Visas, Urges Americans To Claim Top Tech Jobs

A former Meta employee reignited the debate on H-1B visas, revealing that in 2017, his data engineering team consisted of 15 H-1B visa holders out of 17 members, with only two Americans, including himself. Zach Wilson, now the founder of a San Francisco-based data analytics company, highlighted the impact of new visa fee rules, estimating $1.5 million in fees for his former team. He noted that the changing landscape could benefit American job seekers, as a significant portion of their competition may be affected. Notably, he worked as a data engineer at Meta for nearly two years.

"When I worked at Meta in 2017, I was on a team of 17 people. 15 of the 17 were on H1b visas. I was one of two Americans on the team, specifically for core growth data engineering. That's $1.5 million in visa fees under the new rules. If you're an American looking to land a big tech role, now is your time because more than 80% of your competition literally just vanished overnight. Good luck," he wrote on X, amid concerns over President Donald Trump's recent order imposing a $100,000 visa fee.

See the tweet here:

When I worked at Meta in 2017, I was on a team of 17 people. 15 of the 17 were on H1b visas. I was one of two Americans on the team

Just for core growth data engineering, that's $1.5m in visa fees under the new rules.

If you're an American looking to land a big tech role, now…

— Zach Wilson (@EcZachly) September 21, 2025

Mr Wilson's post sparked intense reactions from Indian tech professionals. Some users corrected him, noting that the new fees wouldn't affect existing H1B visas, but rather slow down the influx of new H1B visa holders over time. Nitin Ahirwal, an Indian engineer, responded, saying that Meta's data engineering team was built on talent, not passports. He noted that the high number of H-1B engineers on the team suggests that US schools are producing tech consumers rather than builders.

"$1.5M in "visa fees" sounds scary, but in reality, that's pocket change compared to the $120B+ value H-1B talent created for FAANG over the years. So no — your 'competition' didn't vanish. It just shifted. Those engineers will now be building the next Meta, Google, or Nvidia — in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Toronto, or Singapore," Mr Ahirwal added.

Another wrote, "Dude u americans need to get that level of skills, work ethics and u need to train ur people to fill the gaps and u have to come out of the work life balance even then also u will not able to fill the gaps at all."

A third said, "If 15 out of 17 engineers at Meta were on H1Bs it tells you the reality. The talent pipeline wasn't coming from US schools then and it isn't ready now. Removing visas doesn't replace the gap it just exposes it."

A fourth added, "This is a double-edged moment. Sure, American grads may see more open doors in the short term. But forcing out 80% of the talent pipeline doesn't just shrink competition, it reshapes where global tech gets built. The real story isn't who “wins” tomorrow, it's also how the global tech map redraws itself when 80% of the talent pipeline disappears overnight."