Industry comparison

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

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

Summary

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics) (NAICS 33) and Manufacturing (paper/chemicals) (NAICS 32) represent two distinct manufacturing sectors with different scales of H-1B sponsorship.

NAICS 33 significantly outpaces NAICS 32 on H-1B activity. Metal/machinery/electronics manufacturing filed 314,824 H-1B petitions across 7,385 employers, while paper/chemicals manufacturing filed 53,965 petitions from 2,775 employers. This represents roughly a 5.8× difference in filings and a 2.7× difference in employer count.

The disparity reflects both sector size and reliance on specialized skilled immigration. Metal/machinery/electronics draws from a larger pool of sponsoring companies and higher overall demand for H-1B roles in engineering, manufacturing operations, and technical disciplines. Both sectors use H-1B sponsorship to fill roles where domestic labor supply is constrained, but the metal/machinery/electronics sector's broader footprint and capital intensity drive substantially higher petition volume.

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

Sector A

Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)

NAICS 32Rank #8

Sector B

Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)

NAICS 33Rank #3

Key metrics

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

Metric	Manufacturing (paper/chemicals)	Manufacturing (metal/machinery/electronics)
Total filings	53,965	314,824▲
National share %	1.41%	8.22%▲
Distinct sponsors	2,775	7,385▲
Filings / employer	19	43
Rank	#8	#3▲
Top sponsor	Eli Lilly and Company	Apple Inc.
Top occupation	Software Developers	Software Developers