Eight firms lose PERM processing. One keeps its US hiring commitment.

On October 8, 2026, the US administration announced a pause on new Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) applications and processing of pending applications by eight technology companies: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Capgemini, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech. The action concerns employment-based permanent-residency sponsorship, not an automatic cancellation of all work authorizations.

A day later TCS reiterated a plan to recruit 15,000 additional workers in the United States over five years. It said its PERM applications had been in single digits during the previous two years, and that the suspension was not expected to disrupt its workforce strategy or customer engagements.

This looks contradictory only if every foreign-worker process is treated as the same mechanism. How a company fills client roles today and how an individual employee pursues permanent residence are related, but they are not the same operating system.

PERM is a labor certification, not an H-1B visa or a green card

PERM is a US Department of Labor certification that employers generally need for certain employment-based immigrant petitions. The process assesses the availability of qualified US workers and whether employing a foreign worker would adversely affect comparable workers' wages and working conditions.

An H-1B petition concerns a separate temporary specialty-occupation immigration category. A PERM certification is not itself the issuance of a green card. The announced freeze on new and pending PERM filings by these companies does not mean that all existing H-1B approvals were cancelled or that every local job opening was prohibited.

The administration alleged misuse of labor-immigration programs. Allegations and an announced administrative action should not be described as findings of proven wrongdoing by every listed company. Employer, filing type and exact processing stage all matter.

TCS offered three revealing figures: single digits, 31 locations and 15,000 hires

In its October 9 stock-exchange disclosure, TCS described a US workforce strategy centered on hiring local talent, supported by university recruiting. It cited a workforce across 31 offices and delivery centers in the country.

TCS said it had submitted a single-digit number of PERM applications in the last two years. It also reaffirmed its existing intention to hire an additional 15,000 people in the US over five years and said it did not foresee an impact on its US workforce strategy or client relationships. These are company-reported expectations, not verified future hiring results.

Dividing single-digit applications from a past two-year window by 15,000 planned hires over a future five-year window would be mathematically possible but analytically false. The processes and time frames differ. What is defensible is that TCS points to its local recruiting and delivery infrastructure when explaining why the PERM freeze is unlikely to impair its operating model.

Microsoft's 80% number answers a different immigration question

Microsoft's October 8 statement addressed its broader immigration hiring practices. Of roughly 6,000 H-1B applications submitted in the prior fiscal year, it said approximately 80% related to extensions or status changes for existing Microsoft employees, not recruiting new employees.

The remaining filings for new employees concerned people already legally present in the United States, according to Microsoft. The company said those filings represented around 1% of its US workforce. This breakdown concerns H-1B, not PERM; it cannot be compared directly with TCS's single-digit PERM filings or used to infer Microsoft's precise PERM exposure.

Microsoft also said it would provide additional information to the government and defended its pay practices for comparable roles. That remains the company's position, not a final adjudication of the administration's allegations.

Infosys expects no material impact, but its disclosure does not mirror TCS's

On October 10 Infosys acknowledged the Labor Department decision affecting its new and pending PERM applications. It said it did not expect the action to have a material effect on its business and was willing to work with the relevant agencies to address questions.

Unlike TCS, the statement did not provide a two-year PERM application count or the same quantified US recruitment plan. The two companies may expect limited business effects, but the currently disclosed numbers do not prove that the underlying operating reasons are identical.

Three announcements therefore answer different questions. TCS discusses the scale of one immigration process and local hiring. Microsoft details how H-1B filings relate to existing workers. Infosys communicates a business-impact expectation. They should not be flattened into a ranking of which company is most compliant or least dependent on international talent.

An average 336-day process has different meanings for an enterprise and a person

The US Department of Labor's October 5 processing update shows analyst review of PERM applications filed in December 2025. Its latest reported average adjudication period, covering August 2026 analyst decisions, was 336 calendar days. This is a national average, not a measure of delay newly caused by the eight-company pause or a forecast for an individual employee.

Even if a PERM cohort is immaterial to a firm's aggregate US operations, the same pause may be highly consequential for an employee who is building a long-term residence and career plan around a pending case. The actual implications depend on personal status, filing stage and other applicable legal options; no universal termination of work authorization follows from the headline.

Conversely, a delayed PERM case does not prove that a client project immediately stops. Corporate continuity and individual uncertainty operate on different scales. That difference is the article's most important talent-management question.

Client-delivery continuity and employees' career timelines are different clocks

The first clock belongs to client delivery: can the firm provide the necessary engineers and consultants at the promised time? Local recruiting, redeployment, global delivery and partnerships may be legitimate components, depending on the service and legal requirements. The risk depends on the availability of real skills and the transferability of knowledge, not a generic claim that workers are interchangeable.

The second clock belongs to individual careers and lawful immigration processes. If a specific employee carries rare customer-system knowledge and relationships, uncertainty about retention can matter even when the number of PERM applications at company level is small. HR support must respect privacy, employee rights and the role of qualified immigration counsel.

An executive review can ask where project knowledge is concentrated, which roles can realistically be hired or trained locally, what compliant continuity options exist, and whether employees facing immigration uncertainty can obtain appropriate support. These are Banseog's assessment questions, not undisclosed internal policies of TCS or its peers.

BANSEOG VIEW | A resilient hiring model is not automatically a resilient employee experience

TCS's response suggests that US local recruiting can reduce the operational sensitivity of a large IT services firm to a narrow sponsorship-process freeze. The company's stated confidence is still an expectation; the long-term impact and actual completion of 15,000 planned hires remain to be observed.

Microsoft's H-1B breakdown and Infosys's material-impact statement provide additional but non-equivalent evidence. None demonstrates a final legal outcome of the government's allegations. Nor do the available numbers prove that any company has eliminated immigration-related retention risk for all of its employees.

Executives should separate two questions: can the business maintain its supply of talent to serve clients after a regulatory change, and can it protect the continuity of high-value expertise while supporting the people who hold it? Workforce supply and the stability of an individual skilled employee are not measured by the same denominator.

BANSEOG VIEW

Banseog View — Separate workforce supply resilience from individual retention risk

TCS's past two-year single-digit PERM filings and its future five-year US hiring plan are different metrics; their ratio does not measure sponsorship dependence.

Microsoft's ~6,000 filings and 80% figure concern H-1B, not PERM. Infosys reported an expected business outcome without the same disclosed counts.

Assess client delivery continuity and the retention/support of employees facing uncertain residency processes separately; allegations are not established violations.

SOURCES

Primary sources and references

Information verified as of October 11, 2026. The announced action applies to new and pending PERM certification processing involving eight named firms; it is not an outright cancellation of all H-1B visas or US hiring. PERM certification is not itself a green card. TCS reports single-digit PERM filings over the prior two years and plans 15,000 additional US hires in the next five years: different measures and time horizons. Microsoft's ~6,000 and 80% are H-1B petition data, not PERM figures. Infosys's material-impact conclusion is a company forecast. DOL's 336-day duration is an average for August 2026 decisions, not the suspension's added delay. Government allegations are not established company wrongdoing. Employee-specific outcomes, staffing models and retention results are not independently established. Banseog's role-specific decision questions are independent analysis, not legal advice.