IBM ends H-1B and green card sponsorship for most IBM Consulting roles

IBM is ending H-1B visa and green card sponsorship for most roles in IBM Consulting, its largest division, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, 10 November, according to The Times of India and Hindustan Times. This piece is as of the morning of 11 November.

What was reported

The details come from a document shared with managers in the division this week, which Bloomberg saw, The Times of India reports. Employees affected can continue to work for IBM from outside the US or leave the company by the end of the year, according to Hindustan Times and India Today, both citing Bloomberg. India Today and PTC News say the change covers H-1B applications and the PERM process, the first major step in the most common employment-based green card route.

The Times of India says IBM has not said how many people are affected or which roles, if any, will still qualify (The Times of India). It puts the division's headcount at more than 150,000, and The Economic Times gives 150,000 employees globally. The Times of India also reports IBM shares dipped about 1% in morning trade after the report.

What IBM said

An IBM spokesperson said the company had "opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship for the majority of such roles", per Hindustan Times. The spokesperson said IBM Consulting uses US high-skilled visa programmes to address skill shortages, that participation had been "declining for a number of years", and that skill availability and client need had evolved (India Today). Outlets differ on who received the statement: The Times of India says IBM confirmed the decision to Reuters, while India Today and PTC News say it confirmed to Newsweek.

Context

Hindustan Times and India Today link the move to the Trump administration's crackdown on the visa programme and on legal immigration; IBM's statement, as quoted, gives skill availability and client need as the reasons. The Times of India notes that last month Microsoft, Infosys and TCS were suspended from a key step in the green card process. Hindustan Times adds that IBM has bought Red Hat, HashiCorp and Confluent to reshape itself as a software company, and that the consulting division's growth has been largely flat since 2024.

The Economic Times says the company's decision was prompted by skill availability in the US, and that it applies only to IBM Consulting rather than the whole company (The Economic Times).