H-1B holders are in a really tough spot right now. There is a flood of tech workers on the market … [+]
For some, the holiday season is one of the best times of the year. Unfortunately, for H-1B visa holders who work in the tech sector, it’s the worst of times.
Silicon Valley tech companies tend to rely heavily on workers from India, China and other countries who possess specific advanced computer science, programming, science and engineering skills. These folks come to the United States via the H-1B program and are highly sought after, as it is extremely challenging for businesses to attract, recruit and retain top tech talent. It is a symbiotic relationship. The companies benefit from having a larger talent pool to hire from, and workers have the opportunity to find employment with marquee companies, earn a nice living and have the chance to grow their careers and net worth.
The Current Job Market Is Inhospitable For H-1B Visa Holders
This year was disastrous for many white-collar professionals, as nearly 150k workers lost their jobs. Additionally, hiring freezes were announced and job offers were rescinded. The layoffs spotlighted the precarious status of H-1B workers.
In a decelerating economy, jobs are no longer safe. For H1-B cardholders, they are at great risk. If they lose their employment status, there is a narrow window of time—only 60 days to find new companies to sponsor their visas—for them to secure another role or otherwise face being forced to leave the country. Under the threat of having to leave, these workers may be forced to take a job that pays substantially less than they were previously earning.
H-1B holders are in a really tough spot right now. There is a flood of tech workers on the market and a lot of hiring freezes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the holiday season is one of the slowest seasons for hiring. Many companies will hire a US citizen over an H-1B worker, as it’s cheaper and there’s less paperwork involved.
People Who Lived And Worked In The US May Have To Leave
According to a Bloomberg analysis, over the last three years, companies like Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Salesforce, Stripe, and Lyft, hired at least 45,000 workers on H-1B visas.
Congress mandates that the US Department of Homeland Security can only issue 65,000 H-1B visas annually. Another 20,000 visas are allocated for people who hold a master’s degree or doctorate from a US university. Visas are granted for up to six years. While the US has around half a million H-1B visa holders, a large concentration of the holders work in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The US places a cap on the number of people who come to America from each country who are eligible to receive green cards. For those who come from India or China and lived in America for a number of years, they may not be able to remain due to the limited lottery spots that are awarded. Although the two countries hold the lion share of visas in the tech space, the allotment is the same as smaller countries. It is believed that around 10% to 30% of the white-collar professionals caught up in the downsizing are visa holders.
How Companies Can Help Out
Instead of “officially” letting go of people who hold visas, companies could give the option of employment extensions in lieu of severance packages. They could provide the adversely affected workers with access to immigration lawyers, Q&A seminars, resources, and guidance to find a new job.
According to BuzzFeed News, H-1B workers that Meta laid off in November sent an email to the company’s human resources department requesting to stay on the payroll longer. Since Meta was going to pay out four months of severance, the workers requested to remain on the payroll for that amount of time instead of giving them more time to find new employment.
It is unknown whether Meta granted the request.
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