You Are Placed at Microsoft Making Them Money — Here Is Where Your Pay Actually Goes on STEM OPT

Finding out the client is paying significantly more for you than you are actually receiving is frustrating but there is a reason for it. The staffing company is covering your payroll taxes, handling your paperwork, managing your work authorization compliance, and taking on the legal responsibility of being your employer of record. For STEM OPT holders that also means signing your I-983 and staying accountable to USCIS throughout your employment. A staffing company billing Microsoft 90 dollars an hour while paying you 60 is not just pocketing 30 dollars — they are absorbing real costs to keep that placement running legally.