Vice President JD Vance claimed Thursday that Microsoft replaced 6,000 workers it laid off in 2025 with foreign hires on H-1B visas, as the Trump administration suspended eight tech companies from sponsoring workers for green cards.
The suspension targets the Labor Department's PERM program, which grants permanent residency. H-1B visas remain unaffected. Those temporary work permits allow employers to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations.
Data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' H-1B Employer Data Hub shows Microsoft received 6,258 H-1B approvals in fiscal 2025, making it the third-largest sponsor after Amazon (19,178 approvals) and Meta (6,294). Neither Amazon nor Meta faced suspension. The eight suspended companies rank among the nation's top 50 H-1B sponsors, mostly IT services and consulting firms. Adobe ranks lowest at No. 45.
Vance's claim contains a factual basis. Microsoft did receive more than 6,000 H-1B approvals in the last year. However, two-thirds of those approvals went to workers already employed at the company, according to USCIS data. Amazon, which brought in nearly four times as many H-1B workers new to the company, was not suspended.
The Labor Department's inspector general, Anthony D'Esposito, separately announced Thursday an investigation into alleged J-1 visa fraud involving nine major American universities. Trump supporters have long argued such visa programs undercut American workers by incentivizing offshore hiring.
Microsoft significantly reduced its reliance on new H-1B sponsorships compared to earlier years. The company out-sponsored Amazon for years until Amazon passed it in 2017 and now receives about three times as many approvals overall.