The White House announced restrictions on Microsoft and seven other technology firms regarding their ability to hire skilled international workers on a permanent basis through established visa pathways. Vice President JD Vance leveled accusations of fraudulent practices against the companies, specifically criticizing Microsoft for what he characterized as replacing American employees with foreign workers operating under unfavorable conditions.
Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling announced that the government will halt processing of new and pending Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) applications from Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. Sonderling described such companies and universities as “visa mills” that were flooding the labor market with international workers. Vance highlighted that Microsoft had conducted layoffs affecting approximately 6,000 workers while submitting roughly 6,800 H1b visa applications during the same period, which he presented as evidence of workforce replacement practices.
Microsoft contested the characterization of its hiring practices, stating that the vast majority of its United States workforce comprises American citizens. The company noted that approximately 80 percent of its H1b visa filings during the previous fiscal year pertained to existing employees rather than new hires, and emphasized that international workers receive compensation equivalent to their American counterparts. Data indicated that the median salary for H1b workers at Microsoft stands at $155,000.
The H1b visa program, which functions as a precursor to the PERM process for permanent residency, maintains an annual cap of 85,000 visas. The program has historically targeted highly specialized workers unavailable through domestic recruitment efforts. Most major technology firms, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple, and Nvidia, employ international workers through this mechanism, though none were specifically targeted in Vance’s statements on this occasion.
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