Washington

TheUS Department of Labour has suspended permanent labour certification filings by technology services giant Cognizant as federal authorities investigate alleged fraud and possible harm to American workers.

The action affects Cognizant’s filings under the Permanent Labour Certification programme, or PERM, a key step for employers seeking employment-based green cards for foreign workers.

Labour Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said Cognizant’s PERM filings had been suspended. He said his office was working with Labour Department officials and the White House anti-fraud task force, but did not disclose the specific allegations, the number of applications affected or how long the suspension would last. The action came a day after Cognizant announced plans to expand its American workforce. The company said it would hire 1,500 US college graduates and increase its Frontier Certified Engineer and Frontier Business Operator workforce to 15,000.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S said the company was hiring American graduates, creating new job categories for the AI era and backing a national coalition focused on the transition for workers. Cognizant has also joined RAISE US, a bipartisan coalition aimed at helping American workers enter the artificial intelligence economy.