Laid off Indian Microsoft employee on H1B visa says she is heartbroken, has limited time to find a new job
A Microsoft employee, who worked for 5 years in the company, says she is heartbroken after losing her job. She is among the other Indian techies who are on H1B visa and are now actively looking for a new job or they will be forced to leave the US.
Divya Bhati
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 28, 2023 20:51 IST
www.indiatoday.in
By Divya Bhati: The wave of layoffs is still shaking the tech industry. Thousands of employees have lost their jobs in the past few months and many more will be impacted before the start of the new financial year. Indian techies who are on temporary H1B visas in the US are not just looking for a new job for earning but are fighting with the ticking clock to stay in the country. Professional social media portals like LinkedIn are flooded with posts from impacted employees who are seeking job opportunities.
Notably, the layoffs not just impacted freshers or new professionals but also the experienced executives who were serving particular companies for years. And one such employee is Alisha Achrya who has been working in Microsoft for the past 5 years. The former technical program manager was working in Microsoft's Seattle office and was staying in the US with an H1B visa.
But now, after getting fired from Microsoft, Acharya has limited time to find a new job or she will be forced to return back to India. Just like other laid off Indian professionals, Acharya who has previously worked with TCS and other companies is also seeking a new job and is asking out her connections on LinkedIn to help in the difficult times. "I was impacted by the recent round of layoffs at Microsoft. It took me a few days to come to terms with this news but I am back to the grind now. Since I am on H1b, the clock's ticking and I have limited time to look for a job," reads Acharya's LinkedIn post.
Acharya was laid off recently when Microsoft announced to cut jobs on January 18. The tech giant eliminated 10,0000 jobs and reduced almost 5 per cent of its global workforce to deal with the ongoing macro-economic conditions. Along with Microsoft, other big tech companies like Google and Amazon also continued their layoff session in January eliminating thousands of employees from the offices.
While finding a new job in the current scenario is already difficult as companies have paused hirings and taken cost cutting measures, Indians who are staying in the US are in dire need of a job due to their Visa restrictions. The H1b visa which everyone is quoting is a kind of work visa that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty jobs. However, this visa is a temporary visa and is given for 3 years. But if someone loses their job or has no employment, they are given just 60 days to find a new job or else are forced to leave the country.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency has announced that it is "exploring policy options to address challenges faced by immigrant communities and is committed to increasing access to immigration benefits." USCIS is still working on it, considering immigrants don't have much time.
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Edited By:
Divya Bhati
Published On:
Feb 28, 2023
https://www.indiatoday.in/technolog...ted-time-to-find-a-new-job-2340839-2023-02-28
