By Priya Raman

IBM is ending visa and green card sponsorship for some IBM Consulting roles, and an IBM spokesperson said the company will discontinue support for the majority of such positions. IBM Consulting has more than 150,000 workers, according to IBM's website.

What changes for affected IBM workers?

Bloomberg reported that affected workers can continue working for IBM outside the United States or leave the company when the year closes, after seeing a document shared with managers in the division this week.

• Continue working for IBM outside the United States.
• Leave IBM at year-end.

"We have opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship for the majority of such roles in IBM Consulting," an IBM spokesperson told Bloomberg.

For affected workers, the immediate choice is employment abroad or departure at year-end. For IBM, the harder task is closing a specialist-staffing route as client requirements shift.

Why has IBM narrowed its visa program?

IBM used US visa programs to bring in highly skilled workers and fill gaps in available expertise, the spokesperson said. Participation has been shrinking over several years, while the supply of skills and what clients require have both shifted.

The mechanism is straightforward. Immigration sponsorship gave IBM another way to staff specialist shortages; the company says the skills mix and client demand have since changed, and participation in the visa route has fallen.

Two forces now converge: changing staffing needs on one side, tougher federal rules on the other.

How has Trump administration policy changed the visa economics?

The decision comes after the Trump administration moved against a visa program long used to bring workers into the technology industry, according to Bloomberg. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, the administration has urged tech companies to offer more training and more jobs to American workers.

It imposed a $100,000 fee on most new H-1B petitions, applications for a skilled-worker visa, and has proposed changes to the annual H-1B lottery, a selection process for those visas, to favor employers paying the top salaries.

Those measures make the sponsorship route costlier and tilt it toward higher-paying employers. IBM Consulting's decision follows that policy tightening even as the available skills and client requirements change.

What does the Labor Department suspension involve?

Last month, the Labor Department barred Microsoft, Adobe and a set of large IT outsourcing companies from the Permanent Labor Certification program because of ongoing federal investigations. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the suspensions.

The program covers permanent-worker immigration certification. IBM was not named in last month's suspensions, leaving its sponsorship decision separate from the Labor Department action.

What do the numbers say about IBM's business?

IBM Consulting's third-quarter revenue was flat at $5.3 billion, up 2% at constant currency, a measure that excludes currency movements. IBM shares dipped about 1% in Tuesday morning trading.

The flat revenue line provides the operating context: a division with more than 150,000 workers is reducing its reliance on visa sponsorship while clients' required skills shift. IBM has also built up its software business through acquisitions of Red Hat, HashiCorp and Confluent, according to Bloomberg.

The acquisitions broaden the corporate portfolio. They do not remove the immediate challenge for IBM Consulting: filling specialist gaps without the sponsorship channel it has just curtailed.

The next test is operational: how many affected workers continue with IBM abroad, and how the division fills skill gaps without the sponsorship route.