Microsoft has responded after the Trump administration suspended the company from the Labor Department’s PERM program, which allows companies to seek permanent residency for foreign workers.
Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of using the system to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor. Microsoft has disputed those claims and provided details about its H-1B visa applications. It added that they are not new arrivals to the country. The US accused the companies of using the system to replace American workers with cheaper foreign workers.
It filed about 6,000 H-1B visa applications in the last fiscal year, according to Microsoft. It said 80% of these were to extend or change the status of existing employees. It said these equal only 1% of its US workforce.
In its statement, Microsoft said it believes in the strength and talent of the American workforce. It said the vast majority of its employees in the US are Americans. The company said it looks forward to giving the administration more information. It said these were not to hire new people. Microsoft said the rest of the filings for new employees were for people who were already legally in the US and chose to come work for the company. The Trump administration is suspending Microsoft and some other companies from seeking permanent residency for foreign workers hired through H-1B visas, according to CNN . Vice President JD Vance said Microsoft has been barred indefinitely from the Labor Department’s PERM program. He said the decision followed an investigation by the anti-fraud task force he leads.
