Industry comparison

Information vs Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)

NAICS-sector comparison built from the H1B Report corpus. Filing volume, distinct sponsor count, sponsor concentration and dominant occupations.

Summary

The Information sector (NAICS 51) and Manufacturing—paper/chemicals (NAICS 32) represent different scales of H-1B sponsorship. Information has filed 624,447 total H-1B petitions across 11,007 employers, while Manufacturing (paper/chemicals) has filed 119,027 petitions from 4,712 employers—a roughly 5-to-1 difference in filing volume.

Information sector employers file more H-1B cases per employer on average (57 filings per employer) compared to Manufacturing's 25 filings per employer. This reflects Information's greater reliance on visa-sponsored talent for roles in software development, IT services, telecommunications, and data management. Manufacturing's lower filing frequency suggests a smaller but steady H-1B presence, typically for specialized technical and engineering roles.

Both sectors sponsor foreign workers, but Information's much larger filing base reflects its position as the dominant H-1B petitioner among US industries.

Information sector H-1B filings
Manufacturing H-1B sponsorship
NAICS 51 vs NAICS 32
sector H-1B comparison
information technology visa petitions

Sector A

Information

NAICS 51Rank #3

Sector B

Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)

NAICS 32Rank #8

Key metrics

Filings / employer is a concentration hint — higher means a few sponsors do most of the filing.

Metric	Information	Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)
Total filings	645,895▲	123,144
National share %	6.76%▲	1.29%
Distinct sponsors	12,106▲	5,110
Filings / employer	53	24
Rank	#3▲	#8
Top sponsor	Microsoft Corporation	Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Top occupation	Software Developers	Software Developers

Filings by fiscal year

Year-over-year H-1B demand within each sector.

Information

Time series
Period	Value
FY2010	18,990
FY2011	20,340
FY2012	21,781
FY2013	21,714
FY2014	24,089
FY2015	27,468
FY2016	30,224
FY2017	32,458
FY2018	37,065
FY2019	39,766
FY2020	40,038
FY2021	70,034
FY2022	60,549
FY2023	54,770
FY2024	49,619
FY2025	55,080
FY2026	41,910

Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)

Time series
Period	Value
FY2010	4,986
FY2011	5,266
FY2012	5,421
FY2013	5,098
FY2014	5,815
FY2015	6,136
FY2016	6,406
FY2017	7,243
FY2018	7,664
FY2019	8,270
FY2020	7,489
FY2021	12,502
FY2022	8,500
FY2023	8,497
FY2024	7,756
FY2025	9,221
FY2026	6,874