This post is part two of Secrets of MAANG Hiring, where we ask a MAANG recruiter what really happens behind the scenes. See Part One. Today we look at how MAANGs game immigration programs to avoid hiring US workers.
Like all countries, the United States has rules that non-citizens must follow in order to work and gain permanent residence. For years, these programs have been under scrutiny as a way for foreign companies to bring in cheap labor and freeze out US domestic workers. Our MAANG recruiter enlightened us on some ways their company did this.
You’re Probably Thinking of PERM, Not H-1B
H-1B visas draw the ire of tech workers and politicians, but in some ways, that is unfair. Its intent was to fill labor gaps, and recent executive changes have moved it significantly closer to that. The more popular one that you may have not heard of is PERM, which stands for Program Electronic Review Management. H-1B admits 85,000 workers every year. PERM has no limit and takes approximately 150,000 people every year, making it a bigger program. PERM also includes the spouses and children of the worker. Spouses are usually granted work authorization. Besides the number of those accepted, there are other key differences:
How They Are Granted
H-1Bs have historically been granted via a lottery. However, this is changing to be a lottery strongly weighted towards salary. The higher the salary, the higher the chance of a grant.
PERM has no number limit, but the job has to pass through a certification process. This leads to…
Whether The Company Has to Fill The Role Domestically
H-1B jobs are not required to be shopped to domestic workers first. This is the most common misconception. All that’s required is that the job is a “speciality job” requiring at least an undergraduate degree and specialized skills.
PERM jobs are the ones companies need to try to fill with domestic workers first.
When people gripe about H-1B jobs being ghost jobs, they’re actually griping about PERM jobs. Here’s the documentation a company needs to keep. Documentation and compliance for H-1Bs do not focus on the job’s recruitment.
Programmer is not a Specialty Occupation
So now that we have clarified each program’s restrictions, how do MAANGs work around them?
For an H-1B, this is easy. All that’s required is that the job has to be a specialty occupation. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) defines this an occupation that requires “highly specialized knowledge.” The USCIS considers regular programmers to be “highly specialized knowledge,” even though the US graduates 230,000 people in CS and IT every year. and unemployed programmers are a dime a dozen.
With no posting rules, anything can happen. In a perfect world, the company post the job and all candidates are considered equally. Some companies may not even post the job, just make a role for the candidate if they are selected for the visa. In a twisted way, if a company is going to cheat, this is actually ideal for you as a domestic job-seeker because you won’t be wasting your time.
In our recruiter’s MAANG, there is a formal posting process for all roles, so in theory, it should be the former. However, it was not uncommon for a manager, director, VP to have pre-selected an H-1B candidate, and the recruiter would be required to just rubber stamp the hiring process. Legal team takes care of the government paperwork from there. As a domestic candidate, you were never going to be chosen.
PERM Jobs is Where it Gets REALLY Shady
In a perfect world a company posts a job, gets no qualified domestic workers, finds a PERM eligible worker, then hires the worker on a PERM path. However, PERM has very specific posting requirements. One mandatory place is posting in the Sunday newspaper. In 2026. Not kidding. A company is not going to go through all those steps for every job, so PERM jobs are more likely to have a candidate already selected.
And this is why PERM is more damaging to domestic workers. Companies posting PERM jobs must post a ghost job thanks to this posting requirement. H-1B jobs have no posting requirements, and although some companies do, theoretically at least your time is not wasted when a company wants to cheat.
“Our goal is clearly not to find a qualified U.S. worker”
– Lawrence Lebowitz, Immigration Attorney
The quote above is from a viral video from an immigration conference and accurately states what is necessary to hire a PERM candidate. Do the bare minimum looking required by law and don’t succeed. A company need experts for this.
At this MAANG, a separate team of recruiters within the Legal department handles PERM recruitment. Normal recruiters are again cut out of most of the process. Our recruiter would be told by a manager, director, or VP that they have a job requisition, and they want a specific candidate. If the candidate required sponsorship, the recruiting of the candidate went to this team in Legal and discussion over.
This specialized team also takes care of compliance issues. One third of PERM filings are randomly audited by the government. In audits, the companies have to list any candidates that applied and why they were not qualified. This team carefully crafts the technical and legal response to dismiss the candidate.
How Does This Affect You?
If you’re reading this, you now know that these jobs aren’t for you. How do you avoid them?
Be aware of a company’s reputation. Check experiences on Don’t Bother Applying. The larger the company, not just MAANG, the more likely they are willing to play these games.
Be aware of how H-1B and PERM works, including timing. 2026’s H-1B lottery has just opened and companies will be filling out position details for its winners in April. Be extra leery of job postings around this time.
Check who is posting jobs on Sundays in your local newspaper. This is a mandatory step for PERM, and will tell you which companies have no problem posting ghost jobs.
Advocate. Numerous loopholes exist in H-1B and PERM:
- Demand lawmakers raise the bar on what is a “specialty occupation” for H-1Bs.
- Demand higher fees and lower limits for PERM. New H-1B fees have eliminated using the program to import cheap labor. The same should be done for PERM.
- Demand lawmakers require online postings for PERM jobs. With more visibility, companies won’t be able to hide their postings and claim a domestic worker could not be found.