Vance says Microsoft must prove it puts American workers first

The Labor Department has suspended Microsoft and Adobe from the PERM green-card program, and Vice President Vance says Microsoft has abused the visa system more than any other company.

The Labor Department says it has suspended Microsoft and Adobe from the PERM program, the process companies use to seek permanent labor certification ahead of green-card applications for foreign workers. The department says the two companies now join a list of large IT sourcing firms barred from that process.

Announcing the suspension Thursday, Vice President Vance said "no company has abused that system more than Microsoft," according to breakingthenews.net. He added, "If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants," the Associated Press reported via ClickOnDetroit.

The Labor Department has moved against other IT sourcing firms before this. It suspended Cloudera from PERM for 180 days in May over alleged discrimination against U.S. workers, and suspended Cognizant's PERM filings in September, according to the Alma immigration blog. Microsoft has not issued a public statement on the suspension or on Vance's remarks.

Vance's demand that Microsoft show it prioritizes American workers extends a suspension that was already in place into an ongoing political test rather than a one-time compliance action. It follows his broader push, announced a day earlier, for a fraud task force targeting H-1B and J-1 visas, suggesting the scrutiny on Microsoft is part of a sustained campaign. The timing lands as Microsoft cuts jobs in its Xbox division and restructures other units, giving the administration a contrast between layoffs and continued reliance on foreign labor certification. For investors, it adds a political risk to weigh alongside Microsoft's ongoing spending on AI and cloud infrastructure.