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Microsoft says it does not underpay H-1B visa holders, arguing that employees in comparable jobs receive the same pay and that its wages rank among the highest in H-1B filings. Those are Microsoft’s claims, not an independently verified finding. The administration’s announced action suspended the company from the Labor Department’s PERM labor-certification program, a route used in many employment-based green-card cases; it did not bar Microsoft from employing H-1B workers.
What Microsoft said about its H-1B filings
In a statement published October 8, 2026, Microsoft said it submitted about 6,000 H-1B applications during its last fiscal year. The company said roughly 80% were extensions or changes of status for existing employees. Microsoft characterized the remaining filings as applications for new employees who were already legally in the United States and said they represented about 1% of its U.S. workforce. These figures come from Microsoft’s own account.
Addressing the pay controversy, Microsoft said: “We pay our H-1B employees the same as any other employees doing comparable work.” It also said: “We pay our employees some of the highest compensation in the tech sector, and our wages are among the highest of all H-1B filings.” The statement did not publish a matched analysis showing compensation for H-1B and non-H-1B employees with the same occupation, location, experience, level and compensation mix. The reviewed sources therefore establish Microsoft’s position, not proof that the comparison is correct.
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The announced measure concerns access to the Department of Labor’s Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program. The Washington Post reported that officials had suspended Microsoft from that program, while the duration and basis of any investigation were unclear in the announcement.
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PERM is part of a different immigration route from H-1B temporary employment. Under the Labor Department’s description, labor certification is intended to establish that qualified, willing and available U.S. workers are not available for the job and that hiring the foreign worker will not adversely affect similarly employed U.S. workers’ wages and working conditions. An approved labor certification generally precedes an employer’s immigrant petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The suspension does not itself prohibit Microsoft from employing H-1B workers. Officials also did not present evidence at the announcement that Microsoft had replaced laid-off U.S. workers through H-1B hiring, according to the Washington Post.
H-1B, LCA and PERM: the terms that are easy to confuse
| Term | What it is | What it can and cannot show |
|---|---|---|
| H-1B application | A request connected to temporary employment of a foreign worker in a specialty occupation. | An application is not automatically an approval, a completed hire or evidence of a worker’s eventual pay. |
| Labor Condition Application (LCA) | An employer filing to the Labor Department associated with an H-1B position and its offered wage. | Filing counts and offered wages do not equal unique workers, approved visas, confirmed hires or total compensation. |
| PERM labor certification | A Labor Department process commonly used before an employment-based immigrant petition. | It addresses labor-market and wage protections for a permanent-residency case; it is not a general H-1B hiring ban. |
What the available Microsoft wage figures establish
A PlainVisa compilation of Labor Department Office of Foreign Labor Certification disclosure data, stated current September 9, 2026, reports 32,718 Microsoft LCA filings from fiscal years 2023 through 2026. It gives a median offered wage of $169,489 across that span and an average offered wage of $171,891 for fiscal year 2025.
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|---|---|---|
| Microsoft LCA filings, FY2023–FY2026 | 32,718 | Filing count, not a count of unique employees or hires. |
| Median offered wage in that span | $169,489 | Filing-level offered wage, not total compensation. |
| Average offered wage, FY2025 | $171,891 | Average of reported filings; it is not a matched comparison with non-H-1B employees. |
PlainVisa explicitly cautions that an LCA filing is not a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approval, job offer or confirmed hire. Offered wage can also differ from total compensation, which may include bonuses, equity and benefits. Aggregate figures can describe the scale and wage levels recorded on filings, but they cannot determine whether an individual was underpaid relative to a comparable employee.
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Why the pay-parity question remains open
A meaningful test would match employees or jobs by occupation, work location, experience, job level, time period and the same definition of compensation. It would also separate base or offered wages from bonuses, stock and benefits, and distinguish filings from petitions, approvals and actual hires. The available material does not provide that matched dataset. Consequently, the figures neither prove Microsoft’s claim of pay parity nor establish underpayment.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the layoffs allegation fits
In October 8 reporting, GeekWire described Vice President JD Vance’s allegation connecting Microsoft layoffs with H-1B approvals and green-card applications. That is an administration allegation, not a demonstrated one-for-one replacement of U.S. workers. Layoffs and visa filings can occur in the same period without evidence that the filings were for the same roles, locations or workers.
Microsoft’s October 8 statement, as reported by GeekWire, did not directly address the PERM suspension. Separately, a September 24, 2025 letter from Senators Charles Grassley and Richard Durbin asked Microsoft about foreign-worker hiring during layoffs, recruitment, pay and benefits, entry-level wages and contractor use. The letter records congressional questions and concerns; it is not an independent finding that Microsoft underpaid workers or displaced them.
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What can be concluded now
- Microsoft says most of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications in the last fiscal year were extensions or changes of status for current employees.
- Microsoft claims comparable H-1B and non-H-1B employees receive the same pay, but the reviewed evidence does not independently verify that claim.
- The announced suspension concerns PERM labor certification for many permanent-residency cases, not a general prohibition on H-1B employment.
- Reported LCA counts and offered wages provide context, not proof of actual total pay, unique workers, approvals or hires.
- The administration’s accusation and the senators’ letter are not findings that Microsoft underpaid H-1B workers or replaced laid-off U.S. employees.
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