Microsoft’s circulated statement illustrates the counting problem. It describes approximately 6,000 filings, says around 80% concerned existing employees, and says the remaining prospective hires were already lawfully present. The company’s position as circulated by Mattoo challenges a narrative of thousands of new arrivals; it does not independently resolve every question about recruitment, layoffs or comparable pay. A defensible investigation would reconcile those categories rather than selecting whichever number sounds worst.
Pakistani readers should resist a different confusion: an obstruction affecting one sponsor does not create a guaranteed slot for another nationality. Sponsorship decisions belong to employers operating under legal rules and commercial needs. We can demand fair competition without selling young Pakistanis a fantasy that Washington will now hand them the jobs disputed in a reply section.
