Layoffs across the tech sector often leave immigrant workers with a narrow window to either find a new job or leave the country. This is the story of an AI specialist who was laid off from Instagram.
After being laid off from Meta, Huy Tu has just 90 days to find a new job. If they don't have something lined up by Feb. 6, Tu faces having to leave the country.Tu grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in a working class family. The idea of getting a job at a world-famous company like Instagram seemed like a fantasy.
"I felt very humble," recalls Tu."It was like the American dream, as cliché as that sounds. It felt like, I finally made it! You know?"For the first time, Tu had stability and a steady income. So they booked a long overdue trip back to Vietnam for the Lunar New Year to see family and deliver the good news in person.But then, in early November – just 8 months into their job at Instagram – Tu got a surprise of their own. It's a moment they still remember vividly.
"Unfortunately you were included," the email continued. Tu says they looked at the email for a long time."It didn't feel real."Huy Tu was thrilled to be hired by Meta-owned Instagram."I felt very humbled," they recalls."It was the American Dream, as cliché as that sounds."Tu is in the U.S. on a work visa, and like most work visas, it is tied to Tu's job.
But competition for jobs is intense right now, after a number of layoffs have happened across the tech industry.Huy Tu was recently laid off from Instagram. Tu is on a work visa and had just 90 days to find a new job before having to leave the U.S. Mass layoffs in tech have put thousands of people in Tu's position.
Browder says people on work visas are at a disadvantage when they apply to jobs because visas can be costly and complicated for employers.Browder says that means many hard-working, talented people are left in a desperate position. A lot of them have spent years in the U.S. They have mortgages, social networks and kids in school.
Not to mention the crushing stress. Tu says it feels dangerous to step away from the computer for even a few minutes.
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