An article summarized by CNBC:
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that it is suspending Microsoft and Adobe from the Permanent Labor Certification program, meaning the companies cannot submit or have new applications processed under the program. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said several other major outsourcing and technology firms, including Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro and HCL, are also affected. Sonderling said Microsoft and Adobe were suspended because of “multiple active federal investigations.”
The Trump administration argued that the companies have relied heavily on foreign-worker programs at the expense of American workers. Vice President JD Vance specifically criticized Microsoft over its 6,000 layoffs in 2025, claiming the company replaced American workers with H-1B visa holders. Microsoft disputed that characterization, saying the vast majority of its U.S. employees are American and that 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year were for existing employees extending or changing their status.
The move comes as the Trump administration makes immigration and foreign hiring a major political issue ahead of the November midterms. The announcement was particularly notable because Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, an Indian immigrant, was scheduled to receive the National Medal of Science from Trump the same day, alongside other immigrant-born technology leaders including Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Lisa Su. The administration has emphasized that it supports highly skilled immigrants while arguing that companies should prioritize American workers.
