White House orders Microsoft to halt hiring from abroad

The White House has blocked Microsoft and several other technology companies from hiring professionals from other countries for permanent positions, the BBC reports.On the 8th of October, US Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft and other companies of abusing the H-1b (work) visa program and related processes that allow foreign workers to become permanent US residents. He claimed that Microsoft—one of the most valuable US companies—is replacing American employees with foreign contract workers. Microsoft responded by noting that the majority of H-1b visas requested during the previous fiscal year were for existing employees who earn the same wages as Americans.Meanwhile, Vance insisted that no other company has exploited the visa system as unscrupulously as Microsoft. The Vice President leveled similar accusations against Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling stated that the US government would not process any new or pending work visa applications from Microsoft or the other seven companies. He declared that companies like Microsoft, as well as universities, had become a “visa mill,” flooding the US with foreign workers.The annual cap for H-1b visas—which also serve as the first step toward obtaining permanent residency—is set at 85,000.A Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC that the majority of the company’s US workforce consists of Americans, while it employs approximately 200,000 people worldwide.On the 8th of October, Vance claimed that Microsoft had laid off around 6,000 employees while filing 6,800 H-1b visa requests, arguing that this proved the company was replacing local workers with foreign nationals to save on labor costs. A company representative, meanwhile, pointed out that 80% of the requested visas were for existing employees rather than newly hired specialists, and added that employees hired under the H-1b program are paid the exact same salaries as US citizens. She stated that the company hopes to receive additional information from the US administration.