Who Is Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Under MAGA Fire For ‘Firing 3,200 Americans’?

Last Updated:July 11, 2026, 10:30 IST

Asha Sharma’s plan to cut 3,200 Xbox jobs has drawn MAGA criticism and renewed scrutiny of Microsoft’s use of the H-1B programme.

Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma has become the latest target of the MAGA backlash over jobs and immigration after Microsoft announced a sweeping restructuring of its gaming business that will eliminate 3,200 positions.

The overhaul began with the immediate layoff of 1,600 Xbox employees on July 6, while another 1,600 positions are set to be cut over the next 12 months. The Xbox reductions form part of a broader Microsoft restructuring affecting around 4,800 jobs globally.

The layoffs have drawn criticism from Republican voices and conservative commentators who have accused large technology companies of cutting American jobs while continuing to employ foreign professionals through the H-1B visa programme. Some of the attacks have focused directly on Sharma, an American-born executive of Indian heritage, and have taken an overtly racist turn.

Microsoft has denied that the restructuring is linked to employees’ visa status and said H-1B workers were also among those affected.

Who Is Asha Sharma?

Sharma was born in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1989 and was raised and educated in the United States. According to India Today, her parents divorced when she was young, her mother worked at a department store, and Sharma herself worked at a golf course as a teenager.

She graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree in business in 2011. During her student years, she also led a community programme for at-risk teenagers in Brooklyn.

Sharma began her professional career in Microsoft’s marketing division before moving to Porch Group in 2013 as chief operating officer. Her work at the technology company later earned her a place on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.

She joined Meta in 2017 and worked on products connected to creators, developers and digital ecosystems, including teams behind Messenger and Instagram Direct. In 2021, Sharma became chief operating officer of Instacart and was with the company when it went public in 2023.

She returned to Microsoft in 2024 as president of CoreAI Product, overseeing Azure AI, machine-learning systems and other artificial intelligence tools. In February 2026, she succeeded Phil Spencer as executive vice-president and chief executive of Microsoft Gaming, which was later rebranded as Xbox.

Why Have The Layoffs Become An H-1B Row?

The controversy is not limited to the scale of the Xbox job cuts. It has also become part of the wider US debate over whether technology companies are using the H-1B programme to hire foreign workers at the expense of Americans.

Fox News, citing data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, reported that Microsoft had received approval for 2,273 H-1B petitions in 2026.

Microsoft told the publication that 1,533 of those petitions were renewals of existing visas, while the remaining 740 covered employees already in the United States who were moving to the company from other employers.

The company also stressed that the figures applied across Microsoft and were not specific to Xbox.

However, the juxtaposition of thousands of layoffs and the company’s continued use of the visa programme has become a political talking point for critics of the H-1B system.

Republican Representative Riley Moore accused major technology companies of misusing employment-based immigration programmes. “These companies, especially big tech, are abusing these immigration programmes to replace American workers with foreign workers," Moore told Fox News.

“It’s long past time to end the H-1B scam," he added.

In a separate interview with MetroNews, Moore called the programme “an absolute disaster" for “white-collar, blue-collar, any American worker". He argued that H-1B holders occupied jobs “you’re sending your kids to college for, your kids to trade school for".

Moore went further, claiming that legal employment-based immigration was, “in many aspects", worse than illegal immigration when it came to its effect on American jobs.

What Has Microsoft Said?

Microsoft has rejected the allegation that the Xbox layoffs are part of an effort to replace American employees with H-1B workers.

The company told Fox News that the cuts were “based on business needs, not visa status. H-1B employees were also impacted by job eliminations in the US."

Microsoft communications chief Frank Shaw also said the H-1B numbers being circulated were being presented without the necessary context.

“The H-1B figures being referenced are Microsoft-wide visa renewals and new hire applications. They are not specific to XBOX and represent a small percentage of Microsoft’s overall workforce. And the majority of roles impacted were not American roles," Shaw wrote on X.

He added that Xbox remained the gaming industry’s largest employer of American workers.

Why Is Xbox Cutting Jobs?

Sharma has framed the layoffs as part of a broader “Xbox reset" intended to improve the division’s financial performance after years of heavy investment.

In an internal memo reported by the Associated Press, she acknowledged that the business was not delivering returns comparable with other platforms and publishing companies.

“Our business today is not healthy," Sharma wrote. “We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platforms and publishing businesses."

She nevertheless argued that the restructuring was meant to strengthen Xbox rather than shrink its ambitions. “These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one," she said.

Reuters reported that at least four gaming studios would be divested as part of the overhaul.

The restructuring follows a series of changes introduced since she took charge. Sharma restored the Xbox name to the division previously known as Microsoft Gaming, ended the “This is an Xbox" campaign, altered the pricing structure for Xbox Game Pass and teased a next-generation console codenamed Project Helix.

Why The H-1B Debate Is Larger Than Xbox

Microsoft is the sixth-largest beneficiary of the H-1B programme, according to India Today. Indian professionals account for more than 70 per cent of approved petitions annually and received around 72.3 per cent of approvals in FY2024.

The dispute surrounding Xbox comes as the Trump administration has launched a wider probe into alleged fraud and links to criminal networks involving the visa programme. Vice President JD Vance has also warned against what he called “foreign fraudsters" accused of using the system to undercut American workers.

Federal Reserve Appointment Adds Another Flashpoint

Amid the criticism over the Xbox layoffs, Sharma was appointed to the Federal Reserve’s newly created task force on “Productivity and Jobs". She will serve alongside Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen and Stanford University economics professor Charles I Jones.

The timing has prompted further criticism from commentators who questioned her appointment to a jobs-focused panel after the gaming division announced thousands of cuts.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said the task force would examine whether the central bank could improve its analytical tools, methods and policy approach.

“Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon," Warsh said.

About the Author

Karishma Jain

Karishma Jain, Chief Sub Editor at News18.com, writes and edits opinion pieces on a variety of subjects, including Indian politics and policy, culture and the arts, technology and social change. Follo...Read More

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