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United States president Donald Trump today suspended Microsoft's ability to apply for visas for workers from foreign countries to live and work in the United States, a notable escalation in the administration's war on immigration. This affects all divisions of the Redmond tech giant, including the Xbox video games division, and severely limits the company's ability to hire from outside the United States.
In a speech on Thursday, vice president J.D. Vance confirmed that the Trump administration acted on suspicion of fraud. Vance accused Microsoft of laying off American workers, citing the 6000 employees laid off in the last years, and replacing them with 6100 H1-B visa workers, calling them "foreign indentured servants."
H1-B visas are a speciality classification granted for exceptional merit. According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Microsoft is the fifth-highest employer of H1-B visas in the U.S., exceeded by Amazon, Apple, and others. It is not known what percentage of Xbox employees specifically are on H1-B visas.
The stated goal of the suspension is to force Microsoft to hire American workers over foreign-born workers brought in to live and work in the United States. The vice president also specifically chided universities for the use of J-1 visas for international students.
Later today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is anticipated to arrive at the White House to be awarded a National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Trump, which the United States president is also awarding to Elon Musk and Michael Dell—both close political allies of the president—at the same event.
Game Developer has reached out for comment from Microsoft, but has not heard back by the time of publication. In an official statement posted on Microsoft's corporate blog, the company argued that this suspension is misaimed and based on incorrect information.
"For example, of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications we submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% percent were to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees," the post reads. "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. They are not new arrivals to our country."
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