The Trump administration announced on October 8, 2026, that it was suspending Microsoft and Adobe from the process employers use to seek permanent labor certification for foreign workers. The action concerns PERM applications—not a blanket suspension of H-1B visas. The administration alleges that some companies sidelined U.S. workers; Microsoft disputes that characterization. The available reporting does not establish that foreign workers replaced Microsoft employees who were laid off.
What the administration announced
Vice President JD Vance announced on October 8, 2026, that the administration was suspending Microsoft from the Department of Labor program for permanent labor certification, according to the Associated Press. Vance also named Adobe and IT services firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini.
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The reported action concerns PERM applications. It should not be described as a general cancellation or suspension of H-1B visas. The reviewed reporting does not establish the formal order, its exact scope, duration or subsequent procedural status for Microsoft or Adobe.
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PERM is the Department of Labor’s permanent labor certification process. In most cases, an employer must obtain a certified labor-certification application before filing an immigration petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DOL must determine that there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the job in the area of intended employment, and that hiring the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. DOL explains the process on its PERM program page.
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PERM is a step in many employment-based permanent-residence cases. It is not an H-1B visa, and an action affecting PERM applications is not, by itself, a blanket ban on H-1B workers. DOL’s May 2026 announcement about a separate employer, Cloudera, described a 180-day processing suspension in that case; that duration cannot be assumed to apply to Microsoft or Adobe. See DOL’s Cloudera announcement.
What Vance alleged—and what the figures establish
As reported by AP, Vance said Microsoft laid off 6,000 U.S. workers in the prior year while obtaining 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. Those figures are Vance’s, as reported by AP; they are not an independent finding that the people connected to the visas or green cards replaced laid-off employees.
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Vance said: “Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers.” The remark expresses the administration’s position. The figures cited alongside it do not, on their own, show that visa holders took the jobs of the workers who were laid off.
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Microsoft’s response and its different measure
Microsoft said that of approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% were to extend or change the status of existing employees—not to hire new people. The company said the remaining new-employee filings were for people already legally in the United States and equaled 1% of its U.S. workforce. It also said H-1B employees receive the same pay as other employees doing comparable work. These are Microsoft’s statements, not figures independently audited in the reviewed reporting; the company posted its response on its October 8 statement.
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The two accounts use different metrics. Vance cited layoffs alongside visas and green cards obtained; Microsoft described applications and said most concerned current employees. Neither set of figures alone establishes whether a particular hiring decision displaced a U.S. worker or whether the relevant legal protections were met.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What remains unresolved
The available reporting does not spell out the company-specific terms of the announced actions, including their exact duration, formal legal basis or procedural status. A separate DOL action against another employer is not proof of those terms. DOL’s foreign-labor disclosure page reports data through the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, but that material does not establish the October suspensions or independently verify the specific Microsoft figures: DOL foreign-labor performance data.
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Immigration scholar Ron Hira, an associate professor at Howard University, told AP that protections are supposed to prevent H-1B hiring from adversely affecting similarly employed U.S. workers, and said: “That’s never been enforced.” That is Hira’s assessment, not an adjudicated finding about Microsoft, Adobe or the other named firms.
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