H1B Employers

As we are planning, applying, and recruiting, I thought it would be helpful to understand which companies hire H1B candidates. For example, which MBB's hire the most H1B's? What about other consulting companies - what options do international applicants have? What about Financial services or companies like Netflix? I found the H1B database maintained by Homeland Security that tracks H1B applications, their success, and issue. I also wanted to check (since data was available) about which companies have the best chances of H1B approval success. One challenge there is however is that DHS does not split the data by MBA and "other" recruits. All data is lumped together, so if someone graduated from a PhD programs or Master's or even Undergrad and recruited and the subsequently submitted for an H1B, this data lumps everyone together. However, this is the best data we have (that I am aware of) and it should provide the trends, ideas, and just the answer - do these employers actually hire internationals? Below is a summary of the top recruiters in 2020 (Q1-Q3):


Link: 100 Top H1B Employers

H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
Deloitte	811	239	23%
Accenture	693	271	28%
PWC	301	56	16%
EY (Ernst & Young)	195	33	14%
BCG	92	18	16%
KPMG	83	3	3%
McKinsey	63	13	17%
Hitachi	49	5	10%
Bain	24	6	20%
AT Kearney	8	0	0%
Oliver Wyman	0	0	-
Booz Allen Hamilton	0	0	-

Interesting point, MBB's collectively applied for 179 H1B's in 2020
For Deloitte, Boston office had significantly more dings than Philadelphia. Over 80% of all applications out of the Boston office were denied.

Tech H1B Recruiters in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
Amazon	1500	130	8%
Microsoft	1218	36	3%
Google	1187	18	1%
IBM	839	110	12%
Facebook	684	4	1%
Intel	317	16	5%
Oracle	247	13	5%
Cisco	232	26	10%
Apple	149	7	4%
Tesla (hates MBA's)	126	2	2%
Salesforce	116	0	0%
Dell	76	4	5%
Samsung	40	0	0%
Netflix	14	0	0%

Note that Tech has significantly lower ding rates than consulting.

Financial Services H1B Recruiters in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
Chase	145	3	2%
Goldman	86	4	4%
Blackrock	72	0	-
Capital One	66	0	-
B of A	61	0	0%
Citi	52	4	7%
Visa	50	0	-
Morgan Stanley	41	0	-
Mastercard	30	1	3%
US Bank	26	0	0%
AmEx	11	1	8%
Wells Fargo	11	1	8%
Blackstone	3	0	0%
Berkshire	3	0	0%

Entertainment H1B Applications in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
EA	29	0	0
Sony Entertainment	28	2	6%
Blizzard	24	0	0
Comcast	19	1	5%
Netflix	14	0	0
Activision	10	0	0
Riot	9	2	20%
Universal	5	1	16%
HBO	3	0	0
Warner Bros	2	0	0
Sony Pictures	2	0	0
Lions Gate Ent	1	0	0
Disney	0	0	-
Fox	0	0	-
Nintendo	0	0	-
Tik Tok	0	0	-

Travel Industry H1B Applications in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
EXPEDIA INC	60	0	0%
Airbnb	23	0	0%
American Airlines	22	2	8%
AmEx Travel	16	0	0%
United Express	9	2	18%
United Airlines	4	1	20%
Hyatt	3	0	0%
Wyndham	2	0	0%
MGM	2	0	0%
Carnival	2	1	33%
Four Seasons	1	0	0%
Hilton	0	1	100%
Marriott	0	0	0%
IHG	0	0	0%

(Your best bet for Travel industry seems to be Expedia)

CPG H1B Applications in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
Nestle	8	3	27%
JBS	8	3	27%
Nike	7	0	0
Kraft	4	1	20%
Pepsico	3	1	25%
AB Inbev	3	0	0%
3M	3	0	0
P&G	2	0	0
Coke	2	0	0
L'Oreal	1	0	0
LVMH	1	0	0
Tyson	1	0	0
Imperial Brands	1	0	0
J&J	1	0	0
Unilever	0	0	0
Mondelez	0	0	0
Dior	0	0	0

(CPG seems like mostly a deadend for most H1B's)


Notes:
In general, consulting carries a lot higher risk potential for H1B denial
Data is for the Fiscal year 2020 Q3 that ended June 30, 2020.
Source: https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and ... r-data-hub
Data includes all applications by all recruits not just MBA recuits. The list includes only the initial H1B applications (first-time applications, not renewals)
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Good to see JPM as top bank, but I highly doubt the figures are for MBA as they move many tech ppl on HB1. Also mostly I never see them in recruiters list on many B School (but I may be wrong!) so not sure if they are even MBA friendly firm. Or should I say 'The Firm' like PhDs more than MBAs

Thanks for your feedback. I think there are definitely some of the jobs being allocated for IT folks (look at Accenture for example). JPM Chace does have an IB and Investment arms. I guess the next step will be to compile a list of MBA recruiters and check how many of them sponsor international applicants....
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Any such list for CPG/Retail firms ?

Posted from my mobile device

Post the list of names and I can look them up....
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Thanks for posting the list bb. Is there any such list for the Entertainment companies as well?

I’ll post it but having checked a few such as Fox, Universal, Disney I found very little H1B support among the entertainment companies. Along the lines of single digits per year. I also checked hospitality companies and found zero sponsored H1B visa‘s last year. There are some industries that don’t sponsor at all....

Posted from my mobile device
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Thanks for the reply bb. It means that I cannot pursue a specialization in the industry of my interest. Only US based schools (UCLA and Stern) provide a specialization in entertainment industries. Feels a little demotivated but it's okay. I think I will have to make a switch from my industry. Thanks again for sharing this information.

I actually cast a wider net and was able to dig up some of the H1B Hiring for Entertainment though nothing that compares to other categories. Keep in mind that the biggest Media and Entertainment companies today are also the Tech Giants...

Entertainment H1B Applications in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
EA	29	0	0
Sony Entertainment	28	2	6%
Blizzard	24	0	0
Comcast	19	1	5%
Netflix	14	0	0
Activision	10	0	0
Riot	9	2	20%
Universal	5	1	16%
HBO	3	0	0
Warner Bros	2	0	0
Sony Pictures	2	0	0
Lions Gate Ent	1	0	0
Disney	0	0	-
Fox	0	0	-
Nintendo	0	0	-
Tik Tok	0	0	-

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Thank you so so so much bb. I am so thankful for this list.

You’re welcome. I have some more industries and lists I am working on. I’ll be publishing them here this week

Posted from my mobile device
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Looking forward to it

Here is the list of H1B Approvals for the Travel Industry (these guys got hit hard by the COVID)

Travel Industry H1B Applications in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
EXPEDIA INC	60	0	0%
Airbnb	23	0	0%
American Airlines	22	2	8%
AmEx Travel	16	0	0%
United Express	9	2	18%
United Airlines	4	1	20%
Hyatt	3	0	0%
Wyndham	2	0	0%
MGM	2	0	0%
Carnival	2	1	33%
Four Seasons	1	0	0%
Hilton	0	1	100%
Marriott	0	0	0%
IHG	0	0	0%

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CPG H1B Applications in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
Nestle	8	3	27%
JBS	8	3	27%
Nike	7	0	0
Kraft	4	1	20%
Pepsico	3	1	25%
AB Inbev	3	0	0%
3M	3	0	0
P&G	2	0	0
Coke	2	0	0
L'Oreal	1	0	0
LVMH	1	0	0
Tyson	1	0	0
Imperial Brands	1	0	0
J&J	1	0	0
Unilever	0	0	0
Mondelez	0	0	0
Dior	0	0	0

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The full-year numbers for 2020 have been issued and it is a meaningful change with consulting companies gaining some steam (though recruiting dropped a bit vs. 2019 year - more on that later)

Consulting Companies H1B Recruiters in 2020
H1B Employers	Approved	Denied	% Denied
Deloitte	1174	238	17
Accenture	1126	279	20
PWC	490	61	11
EY (Ernst & Young)	520	40	7
BCG	153	19	11
KPMG	127	3	2
McKinsey	227	17	7
Bain	77	7	8
AT Kearney	12	0	0
Oliver Wyman	5	0	0
Booz Allen Hamilton	5	0	0

This puts total MBB H1B Approvals at 457 in 2020
These numbers are not unique to MBA's only and include Undergrad, PhD, Industry, and MBA figures. Per feedback from MBB's about 50% of the incoming hires are MBA's/PhD, though these figures vary by firm, but ultimately this means around 200 H1B's were issued to MBA's in the entire 2020...

Note that BCG hired 2x of Bain (Bain seems to have a lot more undergrad hiring as well, making it the least friendly MBA H1B company out of the MBB's)

Also, I suspect that due to the Irregular operations under the current administration and shut down and back logs some of the 2019 applications may have spilled over into 2020. There is really no easy way to tell but looking at the overall volume, 2020 has a lot more approvals than 2019 (overall H1B's)
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Here is something very interesting (to me at least ) and a reflection of the Economy, H1B/immigration policies in the United States:
Notice the huge bump in denials in 2019! That's insane as every 4th person was dinged by the H1B process! At the same time, there seems to be an increase in total positions and hiring and historically numbers have gone up from about 220 to 300 and 400 in the last 2 years. I am curious about the trends in 2021 and what that brings for us!


MBB Hiring of International H1B Applicants per Year:


Note that these are total H1B numbers and MBB's hire about 60% of Undergrads with about 40% grad and PhD students.

Source: https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and ... r-data-hub
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Very helpful stats, bb ! Thanks for collating this.

The spike in 2019 comes as a pleasant surprise, considering it happened at a time when the anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its peak.

Despite COVID's major impact in knocking the wind out of the economy, I'm hopeful that these recruitment numbers will improve in the coming years. More so, with the political environment expected to stabilize in the coming years.

Fingers crossed for all international MBA applicants!
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These stats are very insightful. Thanks for putting them together!