The Trump administration has temporarily blocked Microsoft, Adobe and several major IT outsourcing companies from participating in the green card program, accusing the tech giants of abusing the visa system and replacing American professionals with foreigners.
The Trump administration has temporarily blocked Microsoft, Adobe and several major IT outsourcing companies from participating in the green card program, accusing the tech giants of abusing the visa system and replacing American professionals with foreigners.
This was reported by Fox News, citing a statement by US Vice President J.D. Vance and representatives of the US Department of Labor.
Microsoft is one of the biggest rulebreakers among U.S. corporations, according to Vance. The vice president said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year, but used 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. Because of this, the government decided to suspend the company’s access to the Permanent Residency Authorization Program (PERM), which allows employers to sponsor foreigners for permanent status in the United States.
"You can’t lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign workers. Our message is not that we want to hurt your company, but that we want it to thrive by providing opportunities for our compatriots," Vance said.
Microsoft responded to the authorities' decision with a detailed statement, denying the accusations of staff substitution. The corporation reported that 80% of the 6,000 declared H-1B visa applications concerned extensions or changes in the status of existing employees, not new hires.
The new foreign workers made up just 1% of the total U.S. workforce, and all of them were already in the country legally. Microsoft also emphasized that it pays H-1B workers the same high salaries as other workers in similar positions.
In addition to Microsoft and Adobe, the restrictions also affect large IT outsourcers, including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the federal government will not accept new PERM applications from these companies and will freeze those already pending. According to the department, these companies have applied for nearly 3 million foreign workers since 2009.
