IBM’s biggest division ends most US foreign worker sponsorships

What the report says

IBM says it will stop sponsoring U.S. foreign worker visas and green cards for most jobs in its largest business unit, IBM Consulting. According to the company, the change applies to most roles in that division, which employs more than 150,000 of IBM’s 264,300 workers worldwide. A spokesperson told Reuters that the decision reflects how the company’s reliance on high-skilled visa programs has been declining for years and that client needs and available skills have shifted.

Al Jazeera reported that the move comes amid a broader Trump administration push to tighten rules around skilled immigration. The White House has argued that visa programs are sometimes abused and can displace American workers. The administration has already moved to impose a one-time fee on new H-1B petitions and, in October, suspended several technology companies from a separate green-card-related visa program while citing fraud concerns.

IBM has also reduced its use of H-1B visas over time. The article cited U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data showing 1,611 H-1B petitions approved for IBM in fiscal year 2026. The development matters because it highlights how immigration policy pressure is affecting hiring and staffing decisions across the U.S. technology sector, especially for firms that have historically recruited highly skilled workers from abroad.