Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor has suspended permanent labor certification filings by technology services company Cognizant as federal authorities investigate alleged fraud and possible harm to American workers.
The suspension affects Cognizant’s filings under the Permanent Labor Certification program, commonly known as PERM, a key step for employers seeking employment-based green cards for foreign workers.
“Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended,” Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said in a social media post.
“Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated. Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await,” he said.
D’Esposito said his office was working with Labor Department officials and the White House anti-fraud task force. His post did not disclose the specific allegations involving Cognizant, the number of applications affected or how long the suspension would remain in effect.
The inspector general also announced that PERM filings by Cloudera had been suspended.
“One more. @cloudera: PERM filings SUSPENDED,” he said.
The material released by the inspector general did not identify any criminal charges against either company and did not include responses from Cognizant or Cloudera.
The action came a day after Cognizant announced plans to expand its U.S. workforce. The company said it intends to hire 1,500 U.S. college graduates and increase its Frontier Certified Engineer and Frontier Business Operator workforce to 15,000 people.
“We are hiring American graduates, standing up new American job categories for the AI era, and putting Cognizant’s capital and leadership behind a national coalition built to make sure this transition works for workers,” Cognizant Chief Executive Officer Ravi Kumar S said.
“We believe AI will create significantly more jobs than it displaces and shift greater value, wages and accountability to the frontlines of America’s workforce,” Kumar said.
Cognizant also said it had joined RAISE US, a bipartisan coalition focused on helping American workers transition into the artificial intelligence economy. The company’s Synapse program has trained more than one million people and aims to reach two million by 2030.
Under the PERM program, the Labor Department must certify that qualified U.S. workers are not available for a position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed American workers.
PERM certification is tied to permanent employment and employment-based green cards. It is separate from the H-1B program, which allows eligible U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign professionals for specialty occupations.
A suspension of PERM filings does not by itself mean that a company’s H-1B petitions have also been suspended.
Cognizant is a U.S.-based multinational company headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker CTSH. The company was founded in Chennai, India, in 1994 and maintains a major workforce and operational presence there. (Source: IANS)
