What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
On October 8, 2026, the administration announced that eight technology and IT-services companies, including Microsoft, were suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification Program, known as PERM, according to Bloomberg’s reporting. PERM is a labor-certification step in an employer-sponsored route to permanent residence. It is not a temporary work visa, and reporting says the suspension does not by itself bar the affected companies from employing H-1B workers. The officials’ accusations of visa abuse are allegations, not adjudicated findings. The same Bloomberg Tech segment paired the policy story with strong recent results from Samsung and TSMC and with investors’ continuing doubts about how long AI spending can last.
What the administration announced
Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the suspensions, according to Bloomberg. The named companies are:
- Microsoft
- Adobe
- Cognizant
- Infosys
- Tata
- Wipro
- HCL Technologies
- Capgemini
Bloomberg described the government’s position as an allegation of widespread abuse of worker-visa systems and reported that federal investigations were underway. The Washington Post reported that officials did not publicly explain why Microsoft and Adobe were under investigation. The action should be read as reported on October 8, 2026, not as a final legal determination.
PERM and H-1B are different tools
The headline phrase “tech visas” is shorthand, and it blurs two separate immigration mechanisms. The measure at the center of this story concerns PERM. H-1B is a temporary work authorization. The two are often discussed together because employers commonly use H-1B to employ foreign workers while a green-card process moves forward, but they operate at different stages and affect different things.
What PERM does
PERM enables employers to sponsor certain foreign workers for permanent residence after labor certification. The Washington Post explains that an employer must show there are not qualified U.S. workers available for the job before sponsoring a worker for a green card. Labor certification is therefore the gate that comes before the green-card petition itself.
#1 Best Overall
What the suspension changes, and what it does not
| Question | PERM (permanent residence) | H-1B (temporary work authorization) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Labor certification within an employer-sponsored path to permanent residence | Temporary work authorization for specialty workers |
| What it bears on | A future green-card path | Current employment |
| Effect of the reported suspension | Blocks the affected companies from using this certification route | Not ended by the suspension, according to reporting; existing H-1B status is not cancelled by it |
| Scope of the reported action | Named companies only | Not the subject of the action |
Three distinctions that prevent misreading
- Category: PERM is a stage in a permanent-residence route; H-1B is a temporary work category. A PERM suspension is not an H-1B suspension.
- Timing: The effect falls on future green-card sponsorship, not on workers who already hold H-1B status.
- Company-specific versus program-wide: The action as reported names eight companies. The available reporting does not describe a change to PERM for other employers.
The allegations and the evidence offered
The administration’s case rests on public statements. Vance said:
“There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft.”
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →“Stop defrauding the American worker. Stop importing an indentured servant to do a job that an American worker would happily do.”
Representative Pramila Jayapal pushed back on the approach, saying: “You don’t fix a broken immigration system by taking a hammer to legal immigration.” Her remark is commentary on policy, not a finding about any company.
What the announcement did not show
The Washington Post reported that officials did not present evidence at the announcement for Vance’s claim that Microsoft had laid off U.S. workers and replaced them with H-1B workers. Those claims remain the administration’s accusations. Nothing in the reporting cited here establishes that they were tested or adjudicated.
Microsoft’s response and the H-1B numbers
Microsoft said that of the roughly 6,000 H-1B applications it submitted in its most recent fiscal year, 80% were extensions or changes of status for employees already at the company. It said the remaining filings for new employees were for people already legally in the United States, and that these equaled 1% of its U.S. workforce. The company put it this way:
“These were not to hire new people. The remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal only 1% of our U.S. Workforce.”
These are Microsoft’s own characterizations of its filings, as reported by Bloomberg and TechCrunch. They are not an independent audit.
Counts in circulation
Several other figures have been reported. They measure different processes and periods:
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Attributed to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80% of about 6,000 H-1B applications | Extensions or changes of status for current employees, as Microsoft described its filings | Most recent fiscal year (not dated in the reporting) | Microsoft, as reported by Bloomberg and TechCrunch |
| About 1,680 petitions for permanent status | Microsoft’s PERM petitions, based on Department of Labor data | Through the third quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended September 30 | Bloomberg, citing Department of Labor data |
| 3,688 H-1B visas | H-1B visas issued, based on USCIS data; whether this covers Microsoft alone or more broadly is not stated | First nine months of fiscal 2026 | Bloomberg, citing USCIS data |
| Roughly 3,700 H-1B approvals | H-1B approvals; scope not stated in available reporting | Through June 30, as reported | The Washington Post |
| About 54,000 H-1B petitions | H-1B petitions filed over the previous decade | Previous ten years | The Washington Post, citing federal government data |
Because these figures cover different visa processes, measures and periods, they should not be added together or read as a single trend. The dataset figures are Bloomberg’s and the Post’s readings of USCIS and Department of Labor data; the underlying extracts are not reproduced in this article.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsAI spending: the market half of the segment
The episode summary for Bloomberg Tech’s October 8, 2026 segment, reported by Ed Ludlow, says Samsung’s quarterly profit “jumps” and TSMC’s sales “surge,” while investors remain worried about how long the AI investment boom can last. The description places these two threads side by side. It does not connect them causally.
Quick Recap
What the segment supports
- Strong current results from chipmakers and continued investor uncertainty about the durability of AI investment can coexist in the same news cycle.
- Near-term company performance is a different question from investor expectations about how long AI investment will last and what return it will earn.
What it does not establish
- The episode description gives no Samsung or TSMC earnings figure, reporting period or revenue total, and this article does not supply one.
- It gives no aggregate AI-investment figure.
- It does not show that the chip results answer the broader investment question, in either direction.
- It makes no investment recommendation.
What remains unsettled
- Duration: Bloomberg describes the suspensions as indefinite. The Washington Post reported that officials did not say how long they would last.
- Legal basis: The underlying agency order and any final adjudication were not included in the reporting available for this article. What is known comes from the October 8 announcement and contemporaneous reporting, not from the order itself.
- Investigations: Federal investigations were reported as underway. The reporting does not describe any findings.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
