A technology job posting in Massachusetts has come under the scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Justice after it appeared to specifically seek an H-1B visa holder, raising fresh questions over hiring practices that may disadvantage other workers based on immigration status or national origin.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said the Justice Department is reviewing the posting along with other alleged cases of employment discrimination.
“We are reviewing this and countless other examples of American employers engaging in alleged national origin discrimination,” Dhillon wrote on X, adding that the DOJ would work with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor on such cases.
Dhillon was responding to a widely shared recruitment email for a Citrix administration position in Burlington, Massachusetts. The role was listed as an onsite, long-term contract job requiring more than 10 years of experience.
The email, dated August 24, prominently stated: “Need H1b.” The same wording also reportedly appeared in the attached job description.
The recruitment message was sent by Varshendra Chaturvedi of Next Level Business Services Inc., a company that provides IT consulting, digital talent solutions and recruitment services.
The position sought an experienced candidate with expertise in Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop, Netscaler, Windows Server, Active Directory, SQL, DNS, DHCP and network administration.
The wording of the H-1B requirement quickly drew attention online, with critics arguing that such recruitment practices could create separate hiring channels that favour visa holders over other qualified candidates.
One social media user whose post was reshared by Dhillon claimed that some technology jobs are circulated through visa-focused recruitment networks before becoming visible to the broader U.S. workforce.
However, the publicly available material does not establish that the H-1B requirement was an official policy of Tata Consultancy Services, whose name was reportedly associated with the opportunity, or that TCS itself authored the recruitment message.
The email was sent by a recruiter from Next Level Business Services Inc., and it remains unclear why H-1B status was listed as a requirement or whether candidates with other valid forms of U.S. work authorization were also considered.
That distinction could become important as federal authorities examine the matter.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division handles certain forms of employment discrimination, including cases involving national origin and citizenship or immigration status under applicable laws.
The controversy comes amid a broader political debate over H-1B hiring in the U.S. technology sector. While companies regularly use the visa programme to recruit skilled foreign workers, critics have argued that certain recruitment practices may unfairly restrict opportunities for U.S. workers.
For now, the Burlington posting has become another flashpoint in the growing debate over how immigration status is used in technology recruitment.
Dhillon’s response suggests that federal authorities are increasingly examining whether job postings that appear to favour a particular visa category cross the line into unlawful discrimination.
