McDonald's has laid off 70 native-born employees from Ohio and filled their positions with contracted workers who entered the country on H-1B visas.

A spokesperson for McDonald's told Breitbart that the company decided to lay off the 70 Americans in order to save costs.

'To deliver $500 million in savings, the vast majority by the end of 2017, we are restructuring many aspects of our business, including an accounting function,' the spokesperson, Terri Hickey, said.

McDonald's is laying off 70 accountants in Ohio so it can fill those positions with foreigners who are able to enter this country on H-1B guest worker visas

What is most striking about the news, is that the fast food chain is outsourcing jobs that are considered 'mainstream white-collar positions' like accounting.

The significance of this development is that American companies are increasingly turning to cheaper labor from foreign countries in order to man positions in all corners of the economy, and not just hi-tech and software firms.

'[This] is not just a Silicon Valley thing anymore, it is happening all over' the US, Steve Camarota, head of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Breitbart.

There are now over 800,000 'guest workers' in the US who have been hired to do 'white-collar temporary jobs.' Of them, 650,000 are here on an H-1B multi-year visa.

The Ohio layoffs could bode ill for other sectors of the economy – like accounting, healthcare, and design jobs - since the jobs being outsourced are those that have been filled by Americans who have completed accredited business schools and are professionally trained.

Foreigners, particularly from India, have come to the US and have been hired as professors, lecturers, doctors, therapists, scientists, and researchers.

Since the 1980s, immigrants - both legal and illegal - have found work in blue collar positions that were once occupied by Americans.

Now, companies are sponsoring the arrival of new immigrants in order to perform 'professional white-collar jobs.'

GOP nominee Donald Trump (right) has said he would ban the H-1B visa program, while Hillary Clinton (left) backs green cards to foreigners who graduate in the US with STEM degrees

The issue has become a hot-button topic in this election campaign, and it is thought to be a particularly sensitive matter for supporters of Republican nominee Donald Trump.

In March, Trump vowed that if elected president he would end the H-1B visa program.

'I know the H-1B very well,' Trump said. 'We shouldn't have it, it's very, very bad for workers.'

'It's unfair to our workers and we should end it.'

His Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, has not been as clear with regards to the visa program, though she has come out in support of granting permanent residency to foreign students who earn advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) degrees in the US.

Clinton's plan was proposed on her official campaign website.

'Far too often, we require talented persons from other countries who are trained in US universities to return home, rather than stay in here and continue to contribute to our economy,' the Clinton campaign says.