The Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General announced on 8 September 2026 that Cognizant Technology Solutions’ Permanent Labor Certification, or PERM, filings have been suspended while investigators examine alleged fraud and possible harm to American workers. About an hour later, Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito announced the same suspension for data and AI software company Cloudera.
D’Esposito posted the news directly on social media rather than through a formal press release. “Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated,” he wrote, saying his office was working with the Department and the White House Fraud Task Force. See coverage from Newsweek and Business Standard.
What is actually suspended
PERM is the Department of Labor’s Permanent Labor Certification program, usually the first step toward sponsoring a foreign worker, often someone already in the country on an H-1B visa, for an employment-based green card. Before an employer can file an immigrant petition with USCIS, it generally must obtain a labor certification showing that no qualified American worker is available for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the wages or working conditions of similarly employed Americans.
The suspension blocks new PERM filings from Cognizant and Cloudera. On its own, it does not affect either company’s existing PERM approvals or its H-1B petitions, which USCIS handles separately.
What has not been disclosed
Neither the inspector general’s posts nor the Department of Labor have identified the specific allegations, the number of applications under review or how long the suspension will remain in place. No criminal charges have been announced against either company, and as of publication neither Cognizant nor Cloudera had issued a public response.
The timing
The suspension came a day after Cognizant announced plans to hire 1,500 US college graduates and grow its Frontier Certified Engineer and Frontier Business Operator workforce to 15,000 people, and said it had joined RAISE US, a coalition focused on moving American workers into AI-related jobs. Cognizant’s use of the H-1B program has declined in recent years. Department of Labor data show the company filed 3,436 labor condition applications in 2025, down from 10,189 in 2018.
What it means for workers already in the pipeline
PERM certification does not itself grant status. It clears the way for an employer to file the next stage of the green card process. A suspension of new filings would not revoke a green card or an H-1B already held by a Cognizant or Cloudera employee, but it would stall new sponsorships for as long as it stays in force, and neither company nor the Department of Labor has said when that might end.
