Tech layoffs cause havoc for Indian workers in the United States

Indian engineering manager Abheer was in the middle of a performance review cycle when he was suddenly laid off from his job at Google - victim of a wave of industry-wide cutbacks.

The wave of tech layoffs in the United States at companies including Meta Platforms Inc., Google and Amazon are upending the lives of foreign workers like Abheer who are in the country on H-1B visas reserved for "high skilled" occupations.

Under the terms of their visas, workers who are laid off face the prospect of having to leave the country in 60 days unless they can find another job or manage to change their immigration status.

Indians represented about 75% of approved special visa holder petitions in 2021, according to the U.S. government, and industry estimates suggest they account for about a third of the roughly 200,000 tech jobs lost in the United States over the last year.