Samwise High Tech Recruiting Newsletter
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Vance Says Microsoft Replaced Laid-Off Workers with H-1B Hires, but Visa Data Cuts Both Ways
The Trump administration announced Thursday it suspended eight tech companies from sponsoring foreign workers for green cards through the Labor Department’s PERM program. Vice President JD Vance singled out Microsoft, claiming it replaced the 6,000 workers it laid off in 2025 with people on H-1B work visas. CNBC reported the suspension does not affect H-1Bs, which are temporary work permits. USCIS data shows Amazon had 19,178 H-1B approvals in fiscal 2025, Meta 6,294 and Microsoft 6,258; Amazon and Meta were not suspended. Two in three of Microsoft’s approvals went to people already working there; Amazon brought in nearly four times as many H-1B workers new to the company.
Apple Discloses Deal to Hire Huxe Employees and License the Startup’s Technology
Apple has agreed to bring on team members and technology from personalized audio startup Huxe in what is commonly known as a reverse acqui-hire, TechCrunch reported. Apple told the European Commission it has agreed to make employment offers to “certain employees of Huxe AI” and to receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe’s intellectual property rights. Huxe announced on May 21 that it was shutting down, and Apple notified the commission on June 9. The filing does not say who received employment offers or whether they accepted, and it discloses nothing about Apple’s plans. Huxe was founded by developers who had worked on AI-generated podcast features in NotebookLM.
Sources: TechCrunch
MIT Economist Finds AI Built Skills for Senior Patent Lawyers but Not Juniors
MIT economist David Autor and six co-authors tested AI with patent lawyers over three months, Fortune reported. AI improved draft quality across the board, but on an AI-free test only senior lawyers, defined as seven or more years in practice, showed an average gain; juniors did not. Only 91 of the 133 lawyers finished that test. Fortune noted that better output tempts firms to hire fewer juniors, which Autor called short-sighted, saying firms that automate away formative practice without guided learning “sever the apprenticeship pipeline that produces tomorrow’s senior partners.” According to the paper, Google conducted the study and paid its direct costs.
Every newsletter preserved and searchable
Curated by JD · samwise.agency