The Trump administration on Thursday suspended Microsoft, Adobe and several IT companies from the Permanent Labor Certification Program, or PERM, preventing them from using the program to seek permanent work authorization for foreign employees.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling named Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini among the firms affected. He said the suspensions were tied to ongoing federal investigations. Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of fraud and said no U.S. company had abused the system more. PERM is a certification process under which employers must show that suitable American workers are unavailable for a permanent job, according to Wired. Microsoft said most H-1B filings in the last financial year involved existing employees paid the same as local staff.