Industry comparison

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics) vs Retail Trade (general)

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 Retail Trade represent two distinct patterns of H-1B sponsorship in the U.S. labor market. Manufacturing leads significantly in both filings and employer count: 314,824 filings across 7,385 employers, compared to Retail Trade's 161,910 filings from 1,806 employers.

Manufacturing's larger H-1B footprint reflects demand for specialized technical and engineering roles in production, machinery operation, and electronics. The sector's higher employer count (7,385 vs 1,806) indicates H-1B sponsorship is distributed across a wider base of companies. Retail Trade, with fewer filings and a smaller employer base, shows lower overall H-1B activity—consistent with retail roles being typically filled through domestic hiring and requiring fewer specialized visa-sponsored positions.

Manufacturing vs Retail Trade H-1B
H-1B filings by sector comparison
Manufacturing H-1B sponsorship
Retail Trade H-1B employers
NAICS sector H-1B data

Sector A

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)

NAICS 33Rank #3

Sector B

Retail Trade (general)

NAICS 45Rank #6

Key metrics

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

Metric	Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)	Retail Trade (general)
Total filings	314,824▲	161,910
National share %	8.22%▲	4.23%
Distinct sponsors	7,385▲	1,806
Filings / employer	43	90
Rank	#3▲	#6
Top sponsor	Apple Inc.	AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC (WA)
Top occupation	Software Developers	Software Developers