What they say: “We want people to invest in the United States of America, particularly in the American technology sector,” Vance said at a press conference Thursday.
- “We are the biggest promoters of your industry. We want you to continue to grow and employ a lot of people, but we want you to employ American workers.”
- “So our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you have to hire great American workers. You can’t fire American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants.”
Zoom: The Permanent Labor Certification Program, administered by the Department of Labor, allows a company to hire foreign workers to live permanently in America.
- This is usually the first step in obtaining an employer-sponsored green card. It is also distinct from H-1B visas, which allow workers to temporarily live and work in the United States.
- H-1B visas are primarily intended for highly skilled workers in specialized professions. Tech companies are among the program’s biggest users.
- The Trump administration has made reducing the number of foreign workers in the country a rallying cry and has blamed foreign-born workers for taking jobs that could — and, it says, should — go to Americans.
Driving the news: Vance specifically pointed the finger at Microsoft, blaming it for laying off 6,000 workers last year.
- Vance said Thursday that “(at the same time) the company had 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. In other words, if you do the math, for every worker Microsoft fired, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign contract employees. This is an outrageous system that we have allowed in this country for far too long.”
- Microsoft owns hundreds of companies, including LinkedIn, Skype and gaming studio Activision Blizzard.
- Adobe and IT outsourcing firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini are also suspended from the program.
Please note: Trump will award Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation today at the White House.
- Microsoft did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information.
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