{"id":71025,"date":"2022-11-22T00:29:05","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T00:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/11\/22\/us-tech-layoffs-india-workers-face-painful-exit-from-the-us\/"},"modified":"2022-11-22T00:29:05","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T00:29:05","slug":"us-tech-layoffs-india-workers-face-painful-exit-from-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/11\/22\/us-tech-layoffs-india-workers-face-painful-exit-from-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"US tech layoffs: India workers face painful exit from the US"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Layoffs across the tech industry, including at companies like Twitter, Meta and Amazon, have hit a significant number of Indians working in the US who have visas like the H-1B. California-based journalist Savita Patel speaks to workers who face the prospect of returning to India if they can’t find another job.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Surbhi Gupta, an Indian engineer who has been working in the US since 2009, was surprised to be fired from Meta this month. “I was good at work,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On Nov. 9, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced it would cut 13% of its workforce — the first mass layoffs in company history, resulting in 11,000 employees losing their jobs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“None of us slept that night,” says Ms. Gupta. \u201cI got the email at 6am. I couldn’t access my computer or the office gym. It felt like a breakup.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mrs. Gupta should be a familiar face to the Indians. As the winner of the 2018 Miss Bharat California pageant, she was last seen on the Netflix show Indian Matchmaking. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now she is among thousands of educated and skilled immigrants fired from US tech companies this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Most of them work in the US because of the HI-B visa. It’s a nonimmigrant visa that allows companies to employ foreigners for up to six years in positions they couldn’t find American employees for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It also allows holders to apply for permanent residency in the US and buy real estate in the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms Gupta says she worked very hard “for over 15 years” to build a life in the US.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Her visa now depends on finding her next job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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More than 120,000 tech workers worldwide have lost their jobs due to cuts by US tech companies, according to website Layoffs.fyi, which tracks tech job cuts. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While companies haven’t released India-specific numbers, San Jose-based immigration attorney Swati Khandelwa says “it hurt the Indian community particularly badly.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We saw an increase in consultation calls,” she says. “Everyone is concerned, even those who have not yet been released fear it may be the case [fired] later.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For Indian tech workers, the layoffs mean not only finding a new job, but also finding employers willing to help them continue their jobs and pay the associated legal costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“If a new employer can’t transfer your visa application within 60 days, the remedy is for people to leave [the US] and return to work after completing the paperwork,” says Ms Khandelwal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“But the practical aspect is that people get stuck in India as there aren’t many visa stamping appointments in the consulates,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Waiting times for visa appointments at US consulates in India have reached 800 days in some cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For this reason, the layoffs come as an unwelcome surprise for Indian workers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sowmya Iyer, lead product designer at ridesharing app Lyft, says she was part of a team that “took steps internally to preserve the financial health of the company.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Ms Iyer found herself among hundreds laid off at the company this month. “We didn’t expect it to hit us,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The mass layoffs feel like a “tech pandemic,” she explains. \u201cBoth my friend and his wife lost their jobs on the same day. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms Iyer says she has student loans to pay back and did not tell her parents at home in the western Indian state of Gujarat about her layoff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the US with an O-1 visa – granted to those with “extraordinary ability and achievement” – Ms Iyer says she is confident of finding work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Her CV lists degrees from prestigious design schools in India and the US, and the O-1 visa allows her to stay 60 days after her job ends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The American WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act provides a buffer before the 60-day visa period begins. WARN requires employers to give affected workers 60 days’ notice during mass layoffs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cTo secure my status here and to help me find an employer, my previous employers gave me one month’s notice, so I currently have three months,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But for many Indians, even 90 days is a tight schedule and have turned their plans upside down. Many have families to support, others have thousands of dollars in loans to pay back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Naman Kapoor had borrowed money to pay for his master’s program at New York University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After several rounds of interviews, he was hired by Meta as an engineer, only to be fired seven weeks later. “I received the cancellation email at 8am [local time] on November 9th,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“The whole idea is that a US education involves work experience,” he says. \u201cIt is very expensive to study in New York. I worked to make a living.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. Kapoor is in the United States on an F-1 (OPT) visa that allows him only 90 days of unemployment while in the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Meta offered me four months’ salary as a severance payment,” explains Mr. Kapoor. “But I only have three months in which to find my next job or go back!” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Finding a new job in this environment will be difficult, says Ms. Gupta. “It’s almost December – hiring will be slow because of the holidays.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After the layoffs, Ms Khandelwal says a community has formed to support people in crisis. Colleagues and employers have shared information online and offered referrals for prospects. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I created Zeno, [a platform] to help affected[workers]find jobs,\u201d says Abhishek Gutgutia, a Bay Area technician. “15,000 visits have been recorded so far.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. Gutgutia says his LinkedIn post on Zeno has nearly 600,000 views. \u201cApproximately 100 candidates, 25 companies and 30 mentors have registered. Several immigration lawyers have also volunteered [their services].”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vidya Srinivasan, a Meta contributor, says she has experienced a “heartwarming outpouring of support from Meta colleagues” in her efforts to put together a “Meta Alumni Guide” for those whose lives have changed overnight. Her online posts have been seen by over a million people, she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Amidst such hopes, Indian migrant workers hold their breath until they land their next job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’m tired of being tested,” says Ms. Gupta. “How much stronger should I be?”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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