International students going to the US for studies look forward to gaining working experience in America. The rules allow foreign students not only to work during the course but also after finishing their studies. The work program for international students in the US is the much-popular Optional Practical Training (OPT) program.

The OPT is temporary employment that is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. The eligible students can apply to receive up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before completing their academic studies (pre-completion) and after completing their academic studies (post-completion). However, all periods of pre-completion OPT will be deducted from the available period of post-completion OPT.

STEM OPT is a 24-month extension of OPT for foreign students with STEM degrees in qualifying fields of study. To participate in any form of OPT, a foreign student must receive an Employment Authorization Document from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Amazon, with 5,379 hiring,s was the top-most employer for foreign students participating in pre- and post-completion OPT in calendar year 2024.

Top employers for foreign students participating in pre- and post-completion OPT in calendar year 2024 are :

Amazon 5,379 jobs
University of California 2,112
Arizona State University 1,895
University of Texas 1,305
Bright Mind Enrichment and Schooling 1,234 jobs
Tesla 1,170 jobs
Goldman Sachs 1,148 jobs
Apple 1,135
Google 1,110
Meta 1,081 jobs
Microsoft 1,066
ByteDance 1,045
Deloitte 1,033
Walmart 951
Intel 946
State University of New York 906
Ernst & Young 889 jobs
Johns Hopkins 827
Harvard 799
Community Dreams Foundation 795
University of Michigan 767 jobs
University of Southern California 717
University of Illinois 714
McKinsey & Company 680
JP Morgan Chase 675 jobs

In 2024, a total of 194,554 foreign students obtained work authorization through OPT, while a separate population of 95,384 foreign students obtained work authorization through STEM OPT, and 130,586 foreign students obtained work authorization through CPT.

Compared to 2023, this was an increase of 21 percent for OPT, an increase of 54 percent for STEM OPT, and a decrease of 0.4 percent for CPT.

“The 21% increase in OPT and 54% surge in STEM OPT employment at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft since 2023 highlights the tightening U.S. immigration policies, which make obtaining H-1B visas and green cards increasingly challenging for IT professionals.

As demand for top tech talent remains high, these companies are strategically pivoting to hire high-potential foreign students through the OPT program, particularly in STEM fields. This approach allows them to onboard younger, less experienced talent early and develop them internally, bypassing the barriers to recruiting mid-career specialists from abroad.

The STEM OPT extension further supports this trend, enabling companies to build robust talent pipelines to meet the U.S. tech industry’s growing needs.’ says Dmitri Litvinov, CEO and Founder of Dreem.

Top 25 employers for foreign students participating in STEM OPT in calendar year 2024.

Amazon 6,679 jobs
Google 1,778
Microsoft 1,496
Meta 1,302
University of California 1,302
Walmart 1,140 jobs
Intel 1,023 jobs
Apple 973
Goldman Sachs 962
Tesla 901
JP Morgan Chase 887
Ernst & Young 854 jobs
Deloitte 833
McKinsey & Company 810
ByteDance 642
Tata Consultancy Services 639 jobs
Stanford University 541
University of Texas 536
Citigroup 517
Bloomberg 456 jobs
Qualcomm 455
Oracle 445
Boston Consultancy Group 412
NVIDIA 410 jobs
Cummins 410