Meta, Amazon, Twitter layoffs: ‘Tech layoffs will not destroy our American dreams’

Recent mass layoffs at big US tech companies have thrown uncertainty into several Indians working on nonimmigrant visas such as the H1-B. Surbhi Gupta, a product manager at Meta who was among those affected, spoke with California-based journalist Savita Patel about how long it took her to come to terms with the insecurities faced by H1-B visa holders and what she’s planning next.

It was my mother’s birthday. I stayed up late wishing her something, and that’s when I started getting messages from my friends about layoff announcements. They were all concerned.

Here I received an e-mail at around 6:00 am that I had been released. I joined Meta earlier this year as a product manager. My team was shocked because I played really well.

It went against my motto, work is worship, which I was taught early on in school by my favorite teacher. At first it felt like the Titanic was sinking as I gradually lost access to things – work, then email, then laptop. But I was pleasantly overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised by my network on LinkedIn. Many colleagues, ex-colleagues and friends have reached out in a very supportive way, introducing us and making recommendations. It made me feel like having so many people in this country who care about me made me feel like I belonged to this country.

My last day at Meta is in January and my H1-B visa [a non-immigrant visa that allows firms in the US to hire foreigners for up to six years] allows me to stay in the US for another 60 days, so early March is the deadline for me to find another job.

Job hunting will be difficult now as December hiring will be slow due to the holidays. But I’m very focused. I am in contact with several companies and exploring options.

What I will miss most about Meta is the workplace and my co-workers. Being at Meta not only meant being able to build an amazing product for millions of people, but being able to participate in fireside chats and opportunities for growth and learning. As a product manager, it would have been rewarding to further advance the project I was working on.

My parents taught me never to give up in life. They tell me to stay strong because I’m a person who can turn problems into opportunities. They tell me ‘aur kuch accha mil jayega’ [you’ll find something better].

But my ability to work and stay in the US depends on my H1-B visa. I moved to the US in 2009 and have worked very hard to build my career on my own strength and intellect. I’ve worked in prominent companies like Tesla, Intuit, etc., building great products, getting top reviews, paying taxes and contributing to the US economy for more than 15 years, but I feel like I’m in the same position in terms am going to stay permanently due to H1-B restrictions. I was crowned Miss Bharat California [a beauty pageant] by my idol, Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen. I walked the ramp at New York Fashion Week. I have my own podcast.

We face unnecessary stress because the US has a country cap that takes forever for Indian H1-B holders to get a green card (permanent residency). Despite being in the green card queue, sometimes I get a two decade wait and sometimes 60 years when tracking my status.

Our private life suffers from the uncertainty. Buying a home has been a question mark in my mind – do I invest in a home and what if I have to leave. Although I have continued with the YC [Y Combinator is an American technology start-up accelerator]I can’t start a business even though I have a great idea because I don’t have a green card.

I traveled to 30 countries before I turned 30 but now I don’t get to travel much although my dream is to travel the world because I’m nervous about having problems while trying to get my H1-B -Visa to renew. stamped. I’ve heard from my friends who work at great companies like Google and PayPal that they’re stuck abroad.

I even restricted my trip home to India. A few years ago I got stuck in India. I had gone to a wedding and needed to get my H1-B visa stamped. But that took several months as it went into random administrative processing and I wasn’t even sure when it would get through. The uncertainty and the waiting created problems in my marriage. Visa issues played a very important role in my marriage. It wasn’t the only reason, but it became one of the main reasons my marriage fell apart. I also had to drop out of a semester at New York University, where I was studying at the time, because I didn’t know when I would be able to return to the United States. Why do people with H1-B have to deal with this?

I haven’t seen my parents since the Covid-19 pandemic because they haven’t been able to visit me for three and a half years. They are old and not holding up too well. I keep thinking – if my parents need support, can I help them? No one realizes how it affects our lives.

But despite everything that happened, I believe that this experience also has a silver lining. Spirituality is an important part of my life. I am a believer and follower of Sadhguru ji [as followers refer to Indian yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev]. He says that we shouldn’t identify or limit our identity to just our professional role. In Silicon Valley, the most frequently asked question is: Which company do you work for? But I’m still me, not just a product manager. Everyone should realize that they are more than just the company they work for.

As I said to Savita Patel