For thousands of Indian tech workers in the United States, losing a job now carries consequences far beyond unemployment. It can trigger a 60-day countdown that may determine whether they can continue living in the country with their families. As artificial intelligence-driven restructuring sweeps through Silicon Valley, layoffs at companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Oracle are leaving many Indian professionals on H-1B visas scrambling to secure new jobs before their legal stay expires.
Viral Post Highlights Anxiety
A viral post on X, cited by the American Bazaar, recently captured the anxiety spreading across Indian communities abroad. The post described the situation of an Indian engineer who had just been laid off from Meta. It read: "An Indian engineer at Meta gets the layoff email at 11pm Bangalore time. His wife is on H-4. His kid is in 3rd grade in Seattle. His Bellevue apartment lease has 8 months left. His H-1B clock just started ticking — 60 days. Meta's stock went up on the news. Zuck called it becoming more efficient. This is what AI transformation actually looks like for 2 lakh Indians abroad. AI impact on Indians abroad is highest."
The post gained traction online as many users expressed concerns about how mass layoffs are affecting Indian families who have built their lives in the United States over several years. For many families, the uncertainty extends far beyond employment. Workers are now dealing with rent agreements, mortgages, school-going children, and immigration deadlines all at the same time.
Strategies to Stay in the US
Some laid-off professionals are attempting to switch temporarily to B-2 visitor visas to remain in the US while searching for another employer. This visa can allow them to stay for up to six months, but immigration lawyers note that approvals have become increasingly difficult. The pressure is mounting as job cuts continue across the tech industry.
Scale of the Layoffs
Data from Layoffs.fyi reveals that more than 110,000 employees have already lost jobs across 144 technology companies in 2026 alone. A significant number of those affected are Indian H-1B workers. A report from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security showed that Indians accounted for 283,772 of the 406,348 approved H-1B petitions in FY25, underscoring their major presence in America's technology sector.
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