Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling suspended some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program on Thursday. They are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. Sonderling also suspended Microsoft and Adobe, citing ongoing federal investigations.
The department has stopped taking new PERM applications tied to the companies and frozen those already pending. PERM is the first step toward an employer-sponsored green card, and the suspension doesn’t cancel existing H-1B visas.
Sonderling said the companies have sought nearly 3 million foreign workers since 2009 and won more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and 100,000 permanent labor certifications.
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Vice President JD Vance singled out Microsoft. He said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while receiving about 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards, and he accused it of replacing US staff with “foreign indentured servants.” He said no US company has abused the system more.
Microsoft disputed the claims, saying it filed about 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year, 80% of them covering workers it already employs rather than new hires, and pays them on par with peers in similar roles. Adobe didn’t immediately comment.
Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito announced a major H-1B and PERM fraud investigation on July 8 and says investigators have served subpoenas, reportedly dozens. Attorney General Todd Blanche warned of possible criminal cases. No outlet has reported charges.
D’Esposito’s office suspended two unnamed tech companies from PERM on September 8, and reports named Cognizant as one of them. The department hasn’t said how long the new suspensions will last.
