LeadershipNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished Updated
USCIS data shows two-thirds of Microsoft's H-1B approvals went to people it already employed
CNBC's analysis of USCIS data finds two-thirds of Microsoft's 6,258 fiscal 2025 H-1B approvals went to existing employees. That undercuts Vance's claim that visa hires replaced laid-off staff, but the PERM suspension covers green cards, outside this count.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
Four key figures. Microsoft received 6,258 H-1B approvals in fiscal 2025. Microsoft says 80% of its approximately 6,000 H-1B applications were for existing employees; that counts applications, not approvals. Amazon received 19,178 and Meta 6,294 H-1B approvals in fiscal 2025.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft H-1B approvals, FY2025 | 6,258 approvals | 4 | |
| Applications for staff (Microsoft) | 80% | Of ~6,000 applications, not approvals | 11 |
| Amazon H-1B approvals, FY2025 | 19,178 approvals | Top H-1B sponsor | 7 |
| Meta H-1B approvals, FY2025 | 6,294 approvals | 7 |
What happened
- The administration announced on 8 October that eight technology companies, Microsoft among them, had been suspended from the Labor Department's PERM programme, which they use to sponsor green cards for foreign workers.
- Vance named Microsoft at that news conference and claimed the company had swapped the 6,000 workers it cut in 2025 for H-1B visa holders.
- Microsoft said 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year sought extensions or status changes for people already on its payroll.
- All eight suspended companies rank among the top 50 H-1B sponsors, most of them IT services and consulting firms, and Adobe is the smallest at No. 45.
- Amazon led the sponsor list with 19,178 approvals, Meta had 6,294, and Microsoft was a close third at 6,258.
Why it matters
- contradiction Microsoft's 80% counts applications and CNBC's two-thirds counts approvals, so the two cannot be set side by side. On either measure, new-to-company visas come to a fraction of Vance's one-and-a-half-per-layoff ratio.
- constraint Judging the suspension itself would take PERM filing data. H-1B approval counts cannot supply it, whatever they show about Vance's Microsoft claim.
- exposure Amazon and Meta are at least as large as Microsoft as H-1B sponsors and were not suspended, so employers planning green-card sponsorship cannot use sponsor rank to judge their own exposure.
Vance's ratio does not survive a count. According to CNBC, he said Microsoft "replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants" for each worker it laid off [3]. At that rate, the 6,000 layoffs he cited [2] would imply about 9,000 visa hires [13]. Microsoft's total approvals, new and continuing together, were 6,258, or about 1.04 per layoff [14]. About a third of them, roughly 2,086, went to people who were not already employees [15]. That is about 0.35 per layoff [16].
A skeptic would say that roughly 2,086 new-to-company approvals in a year of 6,000 layoffs is still a lot [15]. We think that is fair, and the count cannot settle it. It sorts approvals by whether the person already worked at Microsoft [5]. Matching new hires to cut roles would take role-level data.
Microsoft's own figure is higher and measures something else [12]. The company's 80% of applications leaves about 1,200 for people outside the firm [18]. CNBC's approval count puts the new-to-company group near 2,086 [15]. Microsoft also said it pays H-1B employees the same as other employees doing comparable work [19].
The list itself is the part the data leaves open. Meta out-sponsored Microsoft by 36 approvals [17] and was not suspended [8]. CNBC found Amazon brought in nearly four times as many H-1B workers new to the company as Microsoft did [9]. CNBC's account of the announcement does not include the Labor Department's reasons for choosing these eight.
What to watch
- Whether the Labor Department publishes its criteria for the eight PERM suspensions or extends them to larger sponsors such as Amazon or Meta.
- Whether Microsoft or the administration answers CNBC's count, and on which measure, applications or approvals.
- Any role-level evidence matching laid-off Microsoft positions to visa hires; the replacement claim needs it and the USCIS counts do not supply it.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives50
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The Trump administration announced on 8 October that it had suspended eight technology companies, including Microsoft, from sponsoring foreign workers for green cards through the Labor Department's PERM programme.
- [2]
At the same news conference, Vance singled out Microsoft, claiming it replaced the 6,000 employees it laid off in 2025 with workers on H-1B visas.
- [3]
According to CNBC, Vance said that for every worker Microsoft laid off, the company "replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants".
- [4]
CNBC's analysis of the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub found that Microsoft received 6,258 H-1B approvals in fiscal 2025, in line with the figure Vance cited.
- [5]
Two-thirds of Microsoft's fiscal 2025 H-1B approvals went to people who were already Microsoft employees rather than new hires.
- [6]
The suspension does not cover H-1Bs, which are temporary work permits; the PERM programme concerns green cards, which grant permanent residency.
- [7]
Amazon topped the H-1B list with 19,178 approvals in fiscal 2025, followed by Meta with 6,294, with Microsoft a close third.
- [8]
Neither Amazon nor Meta was among the suspended companies.
- [9]
Amazon now receives about three times as many H-1B approvals as Microsoft, and CNBC found Amazon brought in nearly four times as many H-1B workers who were new to the company.
- [10]
All eight suspended companies rank among the top 50 H-1B sponsors in the US, most of them IT services and consulting firms; Adobe was the smallest sponsor on the list, at No. 45.
- [11]
Microsoft said that of the approximately 6,000 H-1B applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% were to extend or change the status of existing employees.
- [12]
Microsoft's figure relates to applications, while CNBC's analysis covers approvals.
- [13]
At one and a half foreign hires per layoff, 6,000 layoffs would imply about 9,000 hires.
- [14]
Microsoft's 6,258 approvals are about 1.04 per laid-off worker.
- [15]
About a third of the 6,258 approvals, roughly 2,086, went to people who were not already Microsoft employees.
- [16]
Roughly 2,086 new-to-company approvals is about 0.35 per laid-off worker.
- [17]
Meta's 6,294 approvals exceeded Microsoft's 6,258 by 36.
- [18]
The 20% of Microsoft's roughly 6,000 applications not for existing employees is about 1,200 applications.
- [19]
Microsoft said it pays H-1B employees the same as other employees doing comparable work.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- hcamag.comTwo-thirds of Microsoft's H-1B approvals went to existing staff
1 article · October 11, 2026
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