The U.S. Department of Labor said Oct. 8 that it will suspend Microsoft, Adobe, and IT outsourcers, including Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro, and HCL, from its Permanent Labor Certification program.
ALSO READ: Tech Layoffs Show No Signs of Slowing in 2026, Even as AI Job Postings Surge
Who is suspended?
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling cited “multiple active federal investigations” for the Microsoft and Adobe suspensions, as the Trump administration targets immigration and foreign hiring programs ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Sonderling also said that the department will not accept or process any new applications under the program for a host of companies, including Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro, and HCL. Since 2009, he said, the companies have requested almost 3 million foreign workers and received more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labor certifications, which he called “hundreds of thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers.”
Vance targets Microsoft
Vice President JD Vance criticized Microsoft specifically, pointing to its 6,000 layoffs in 2025 and claiming it “replaced” those workers with people on H-1B visas. (CNBC) Vance said the administration will continue to support Microsoft but will “deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies” until the company shows it is serious about putting American workers first.
Microsoft defended its hiring practices in a statement Thursday, saying “the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans.” Of the roughly 6,000 H-1B applications it submitted last fiscal year, the company said, 80% were to extend or change the status of existing employees. Microsoft also said petitions were filed only for workers “who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.”
Big tech among top H-1B sponsors
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Apple have been among the top sponsors of H-1B visas for decades. This year, Amazon filed the most petitions at 35,426, followed by Cognizant and EY, with Microsoft a close fourth at 21,706, according to 2026 data from Levels.fyi.
President Donald Trump was set to award the National Medal of Science to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other technology CEOs at the same summit where the suspension was announced. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and AMD CEO Lisa Su were also being honored.
Why visa-heavy delivery models now carry real risk
For U.S. companies that rely on IT outsourcers or H-1B talent, and for the MSP and telecom partners that support them, the suspension turns immigration policy into a direct delivery risk. Staff who cannot secure a green card might leave or relocate, and new on-site hires at the named firms become harder to retain.
Clients exposed to this model will likely shift more work offshore or nearshore, where U.S. visa rules do not apply. Mexico stands out because its teams share U.S. time zones, making real-time collaboration and live customer support practical without on-site visas.
Buyers should review which of their contracts depend on on-site visa staff and develop continuity plans before any further enforcement takes effect.
Read more Unity Communications and BPO News on our main page.
Levels.fyi. (n.d.). Top H-1B Visa Sponsors 2026. Retrieved from https://www.levels.fyi/h1b/sponsors/
Microsoft. (2026, October 8). Microsoft Comment on Recent Immigration Questions. Retrieved from https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2026/10/08/microsoft-comment-on-recent-immigration-questions/
Haddad, C. J. (2026, October 8). U.S. suspends Microsoft, Adobe from green card labor program in foreign worker crackdown. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/08/microsoft-adobe-green-card-labor-suspension.html
