India, Sept. 19 -- Employers sponsoring H-1B workers will face closer scrutiny if they have recently laid off American workers or are planning job cuts that could affect similarly situated US employees under a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

The order directs the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State to consider an employer's recent or planned layoffs when processing H-1B labor condition applications, petitions, visas and requests for entry into the US.

The measure does not state that an employer automatically loses the ability to sponsor H-1B workers after conducting layoffs. Instead, layoffs are now a factor federal agencies must take into account when assessing H-1B cases.

Under the new order, agenc...