Wall Street might not be building the next ChatGPT, but it's hiring like it wants to. New data covering May 2020 through 2024 shows that Citigroup (C, Financial) brought in over 3,000 new H-1B workers—more than many Big Tech names. But here's the kicker: nearly two-thirds weren't even Citi employees. They were contractors—lower-paid, outsourced, and funneled in through firms like Tata Consultancy Services, which is now under federal investigation. These middlemen operate a parallel system: they recruit, place, and often underpay talent while clipping a cut from each paycheck. Median salary for one of these H-1B developers? $94,000. Compare that to $142,000 for a direct hire doing similar work.
Capital One might just be the poster child for how deep this goes. More than half of its 905 H-1B contract hires came from staffing firms flagged for using “multiple registrations”—a strategy the government deemed fraudulent just last year. The company worked with 429 separate middlemen, including six previously linked to visa gaming. Other big names—Verizon (VZ, Financial), AT&T (T, Financial), Walmart (WMT, Financial)—also relied heavily on such contractors, but remained silent when pressed for comment. Even with similar job titles and education levels, the pay gap between contract and full-time H-1B workers remained stark. In some cases, one in three contractors was paid the bare minimum allowed under US law.
This is no longer just a Silicon Valley story. It's a systemic reshaping of white-collar labor. And the incentives are clear: lower wages, flexible hiring, and easier paths to offshoring. The data, obtained through FOIA litigation, exposes how middlemen now dominate a program once meant to bring in “the best of the best.” But instead of elite AI talent, we're seeing armies of outsourced IT workers filling lower-level roles—often stuck in second-tier status due to visa restrictions. Whether Washington reforms it or not, investors would be smart to watch how companies like Citigroup and Capital One are quietly arbitraging America's immigration system.
