Industry comparison

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics) vs Wholesale Trade

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 Wholesale Trade represent two distinct patterns in H-1B sponsorship. Manufacturing dominates by volume, with 314,824 filings across 7,385 employers, reflecting the sector's reliance on specialized technical and engineering talent. Wholesale Trade, by contrast, filed 42,250 H-1B applications across 4,119 employers—roughly one-seventh the filing volume but with comparable employer density.

The ratio of filings to employers tells part of the story. Manufacturing sponsors an average of 42.6 H-1B positions per employer, indicating larger-scale, sustained talent needs in production, engineering, and technical roles. Wholesale Trade averages 10.3 filings per employer, suggesting smaller cohorts of specialized roles or fewer repeat sponsors. Both sectors compete for talent, but Manufacturing's significantly higher filing count reflects its capital-intensive nature and technical skill requirements.

manufacturing vs wholesale trade H-1B
H-1B filings by sector
manufacturing H-1B sponsorship
wholesale trade H-1B filings
sector comparison H-1B

Sector A

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)

NAICS 33Rank #3

Sector B

Wholesale Trade

NAICS 42Rank #10

Key metrics

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

Metric	Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)	Wholesale Trade
Total filings	314,824▲	42,250
National share %	8.22%▲	1.10%
Distinct sponsors	7,385▲	4,119
Filings / employer	43	10
Rank	#3▲	#10
Top sponsor	Apple Inc.	EMC Corporation
Top occupation	Software Developers	Software Developers