Now Reading: Ex-AWS employees defend H-1B workers as US suspends green card programme for 8 firms
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Ex-AWS employees defend H-1B workers as US suspends green card programme for 8 firms
Ex-AWS employees defend H-1B workers as US suspends green card programme for 8 firms
Two former Amazon employees have defended immigrant workers after the US Department of Labor on 8 October suspended eight companies from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme, halting new applications and processing. The firms are Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. Microsoft and Adobe were suspended due to active federal investigations, the six outsourcing firms were suspended outright.
Shobhit Mathur, co-founder of Rishihood University, said on X that about 100 H-1B workers helped build Amazon Web Services (AWS) when Amazon was making losses. Daniel Vassallo, another ex-AWS employee, said on X the immigrant ratio in his AWS team was 'about 20:1' and argued that such workforce composition built America's biggest companies. AWS generated $128.7 billion in net sales in 2025, accounting for 57% of Amazon's operating income.
US Vice-President JD Vance said the H-1B programme has 'become rife with fraud' and criticised Microsoft for laying off 6,000 US workers last year while receiving 6,300 H-1B visas. The suspension does not affect existing H-1B or green-card holders, and TCS said it would follow any directions from the Labor Department.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both outlets report the same facts: a former Amazon employee's defence of immigrant workers, US suspending eight firms from PERM, and JD Vance's criticism. Time of India leads with Shobhit Mathur's estimate of '100 H-1B workers' building AWS and the AWS earnings breakdown, framing the debate around economic contribution. Livemint leads with Daniel Vassallo's '20:1 immigrant ratio' and the 'visa abuse' quote, foregrounding the immigrant workforce role. Both present the PERM suspension identically. Time of India omits Vassallo's 'visa abuse' framing, Livemint omits the AWS revenue percentages. The balanced view is that both accounts agree on the H-1B programme's role in building tech giants, while the US government's action targets specific companies with no immediate visa cancellations. The next concrete step is the Department of Labor's refusal to process pending PERM applications from the eight suspended firms, covering six outsourcers and two tech companies under investigation.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report), livemint.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
