A wave of layoffs at U.S. technology companies has forced scores of skilled immigrants on temporary visas to find new jobs within 60 days or leave the country. Their predicament underscores how a flawed system is jeopardizing America’s ability to attract and retain the foreign-born talent it needs.
The tech industry has long relied on skilled foreign workers to fill IT and engineering jobs. The majority are employed through the H-1B visa program, which brings 85,000 workers to the U.S. each year. The visas last a maximum of six years, during which time workers can apply for legal permanent residence, if sponsored by their employer. Of the estimated 580,000 current H-1B holders, more than half have had an employer petition for them to get a green card. Due to the system’s arbitrariness and inefficiency, however, the process for actually obtaining one lasts years; many immigrants from India — which contributes the largest share of applicants — can expect to wait for decades.
This backlog leaves H-1B holders vulnerable to corporate downsizing — as tens of thousands have recently learned the hard way, including those at Twitter Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. Under rules put in place during President Barack Obama’s administration, workers who lose their jobs have 60 days to find a new employer to sponsor them or they will have their visas canceled. At Meta and Twitter alone, at least 350 laid-off visa holders are now racing to secure new jobs before the grace period expires. Even those who do find work may have to relocate their families, sell their homes or settle for less desirable work just to stay in the country.
