The White House has barred Microsoft and several tech firms from hiring skilled international workers permanently. This action affects the H-1B visa program, commonly used for such hires.
Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of committing fraud with the H-1B visa program. He claimed the company is replacing American workers with “foreign indentured servants.”
Microsoft stated that most H-1B visas filed last year were for existing employees. These workers receive compensation equal to local staff.
Vance criticized Microsoft, saying it has abused the system more than any other company. He also made similar allegations against Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.
Secretary of Labour Keith Sonderling announced that new or pending Permanent Labour Certification Program (PERM) applications from these companies will not be processed. He described companies like Microsoft as “visa mills” flooding the US with foreign workers.
The BBC reached out to all mentioned companies for comments. The annual cap on H-1B visas is 85,000.
A Microsoft spokeswoman told the BBC that most employees in the US are Americans. The company employs over 200,000 people globally.
Vance noted that Microsoft laid off about 6,000 workers while filing 6,800 H-1B applications during the same period. He argued this indicated a trend of replacing domestic workers with foreign ones to lower wages.
The spokeswoman clarified that 80% of Microsoft’s recent H-1B filings were for current employees rather than new hires. She emphasized that international hires receive comparable pay to their US counterparts.
According to Ellis, a firm assisting tech companies in hiring abroad, the median salary for an H-1B worker at Microsoft is $155,000. The spokeswoman expressed eagerness to provide more information to the Administration.
On Thursday, Satya Nadella received a national medal of technology and innovation from President Donald Trump at the White House. Trump praised Nadella’s contributions during the award ceremony.
Other notable recipients included Elon Musk and Sergey Brin. Nadella attended various recent White House events focused on technology and artificial intelligence.
Despite receiving accolades, Vance directed his criticism specifically at Microsoft. He urged them to hire American workers instead of laying them off for foreign laborers.
Vance explained that foreign workers must leave if they lose their job within a specific timeframe after being laid off. Recently proposed changes could eliminate this grace period entirely.
Many major tech firms have utilized the H-1B visa program for years; Amazon and Google are among them but were not mentioned by Vance in his remarks.
The program aims to attract highly skilled workers when domestic talent is unavailable. The PERM process allows these individuals to seek permanent residency in the US through Green Cards.
Last fiscal year saw over 130,000 PERM applications certified across ten business categories by the US Department of Labour.
Leave a Reply