NVIDIA expands H-1B hiring while other Silicon Valley giants cut back

As most of the Silicon Valley giants are carrying out a massive exodus of employees, NVIDIA is on a hiring boom with huge paychecks. The majority of them are immigrant workers. According to the Federal Labour filings, NVIDIA has secured approximately 1,200 visa certifications during the first two quarters of the fiscal year 2026. This represents a 20 per cent increase from roughly 1000 applications approved during the same time frame the previous year. While this marks an increase in the H1B hiring for NVIDIA, it remains a long way off from other Silicon Valley companies like Alphabet and Amazon, which have 2,200 and 4,300 certifications in the H1FY26, down from 5,100 and 6100 in the same period the previous year, respectively.

How much are Indians benefiting from the NVIDIA hiring boom?

Indian technology professionals are the primary beneficiaries of the NVIDIA hiring boom both in the United States and within India's domestic tech hubs. Indian nationals historically secured 71-73 per cent of all H-1B visas in the US, so NVIDIA's rapid expansion of H1B hiring will likely disproportionately benefit Indian talent. According to the Federal Filings, NVIDIA is offering lucrative packages in basic salaries, excluding stock grants and bonuses, which can significantly increase overall compensation. An individual contributor can earn from a range of $356,500- $391,000 per annum, for roles like software engineer, research scientist, product manager, and hardware engineering manager. While Director-level roles are more lucrative, like architecture directors can earn up to $488,750, in base salary alone. However, the whole H1B segment has seen a structural overhaul, and the $100,000 "entry restriction" fee has made the immigration process move from a random lottery to a high-wage, high-skill selection model. This has helped Silicon Valley giants like NVIDIA, Alphabet and Amazon while pushing others like TCS, Infosys and Wipro out of the market.

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What is driving this hiring boom at NVIDIA?

NVIDIA, which has been the leading beneficiary of the AI boon, posted its Q1 Fiscal Year 2027 financial results on May 20, 2026. It has recorded a massive year-over-year revenue growth of 85 per cent. It jumped to $81.62 billion from the $44.06 billion it reported in the same quarter last year. The data centre segment has recorded $75.2 billion in a single quarter. This is more than most Fortune 500 companies. NVIDIA is not just a supplier of the current AI wave; it is building the dedicated AI infrastructure for the AI wave.