Industry comparison

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics) vs Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)

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

Summary

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics) and Manufacturing (paper/chemicals) represent two distinct industrial segments in the H-1B sponsorship landscape.

Metal/machinery/electronics manufacturing (NAICS 33) dominates H-1B activity, with 657,405 total filings across 12,667 employers. This sector's scale reflects demand for engineers, technicians, and specialized roles in automotive, semiconductor, and precision manufacturing. Paper and chemicals manufacturing (NAICS 32) follows with 119,027 filings from 4,712 employers—roughly one-fifth the volume. Both sectors sponsor skilled workers, but NAICS 33 shows substantially higher petition intensity and a broader employer base.

The employer-to-filings ratio differs between sectors: NAICS 33 averages 52 filings per employer, while NAICS 32 averages 25, suggesting deeper H-1B reliance in metal/machinery/electronics roles and more intensive sponsorship patterns in that segment.

H-1B manufacturing comparison
metal machinery electronics vs chemicals paper
manufacturing sector H-1B filings
NAICS 33 vs NAICS 32
manufacturing H-1B sponsorship

Sector A

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)

NAICS 33Rank #2

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	Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)	Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)
Total filings	680,015▲	123,144
National share %	7.11%▲	1.29%
Distinct sponsors	13,769▲	5,110
Filings / employer	49	24
Rank	#2▲	#8
Top sponsor	Apple Inc.	Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Top occupation	Software Developers	Software Developers

Filings by fiscal year

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

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)

Time series
Period	Value
FY2010	24,379
FY2011	28,553
FY2012	29,695
FY2013	29,093
FY2014	32,346
FY2015	32,605
FY2016	33,183
FY2017	35,036
FY2018	37,966
FY2019	38,898
FY2020	37,942
FY2021	69,187
FY2022	52,902
FY2023	54,392
FY2024	46,170
FY2025	54,231
FY2026	43,437

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