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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The Trump administration says it is suspending Microsoft and several other companies from the Department of Labor’s PERM program, alleging abuse of the process. The announcement, reported by the Associated Press on October 8, 2026, concerns labor certification used in some employer-sponsored green-card cases—not the H-1B visa program itself. The reported allegations are not an adjudicated finding, and the available reporting does not establish the exact terms or individual case effects of Microsoft’s suspension.
What does the reported suspension mean?
Vice President JD Vance announced that Microsoft, Adobe and six IT consulting firms—Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini—were being suspended from PERM, according to the Associated Press. The reported action concerns employers’ access to a labor-certification process used in sponsoring workers for permanent residence.
The report does not establish the formal instrument behind Microsoft’s suspension, how long it lasts, which applications it covers or what review process is available. Those details should not be assumed from actions involving other employers.
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What is PERM, and how is it different from H-1B?
The Department of Labor describes PERM as a process through which an employer can sponsor a worker for permanent resident status after recruiting U.S. workers. PERM is a labor-certification step in a possible path to a green card; it is neither the green card itself nor an H-1B visa. H-1B is temporary work status.
Because the announced action is reported as a PERM suspension, it should not be described as a suspension of Microsoft’s H-1B program. The report does not say that all H-1B workers, all green-card cases or all Microsoft employees are affected.
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What did the administration allege, and how did Microsoft respond?
AP reported Vance’s allegation that Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers while obtaining 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards in the prior year. These are figures attributed to Vance; the report does not independently establish that foreign workers replaced the employees who were laid off.
Microsoft told AP that it filed approximately 6,000 H-1B applications in the last fiscal year, and that 80% were “to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.” The company said the remaining filings for new employees were for people already legally in the United States and amounted to about 1% of its U.S. workforce. Those are Microsoft’s statements, not independent verification.
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AP also reported, citing USCIS data, that Microsoft ranked fifth among U.S. employers for H-1B use and Amazon ranked first. The report excerpt does not specify the dataset’s precise period, so the ranking should not be read as a more exact measure than AP described.
At a White House news conference on October 8, Vance said: “Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers.” AP also quoted Doug Rand, a former USCIS senior adviser during the Biden administration, calling the announcement “incoherent.” Rand’s broader point was that permanent residence reduces an employee’s dependence on an employer for immigration status.
What could this mean for an H-1B worker’s green-card sponsorship?
PERM may be one step in an employer-sponsored permanent-residence case, so a restriction on an employer’s PERM access could matter to workers whose cases depend on that step. But the available reporting does not specify whether Microsoft’s action affects pending applications, new filings, particular workers or all PERM activity. It also does not establish the process for challenging or reviewing the action.
That leaves individual consequences unresolved. A worker should not infer from the announcement alone that an H-1B status has ended, that a green-card case has been denied, or that every Microsoft-sponsored case is covered. The precise effect depends on the formal action and the worker’s case circumstances.
How does this compare with the separate Cloudera action?
The Department of Labor and Justice announced a separate PERM enforcement action against Cloudera in May 2026. DOL said it suspended processing of Cloudera’s PERM applications for 180 days after allegations about its recruitment process, with a possible extension pending a DOJ investigation. DOL said it would use existing suspension authority against an employer, attorney or agent under investigation for possible fraud or willful misrepresentation.
| Employer | Reported basis | Documented action and duration | Status of wrongdoing claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Vance alleged abuse of the PERM process; AP’s report also described his claims about layoffs, H-1B visas and green cards. | Vance announced a PERM suspension, but the available reporting does not state its precise terms or duration. | Allegation; the reporting does not establish an adjudicated finding. |
| Cloudera | DOL cited allegations concerning its recruitment process. | DOL said it suspended processing of Cloudera’s PERM applications for 180 days, with a possible extension pending a DOJ investigation. | Allegations; the DOL announcement describes an investigation, not an adjudicated finding. |
The Cloudera action provides context for DOL’s stated use of suspension authority, but it does not show that Microsoft engaged in the same conduct or that Microsoft’s suspension has the same terms. Separately, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General announced an investigation in July 2026 into fraud and human trafficking in H-1B and PERM systems. That broader investigation is not a Microsoft-specific finding.
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