When Vinit Juneja started as a software engineer at Amazon last year, he knew he might leave one day for a more attractive role.
But after watching colleagues lose their jobs during two rounds of layoffs that eliminated roughly 30,000 positions at Amazon, another factor took on new importance: job security.
“I realized that no one’s safe,” Juneja said.
Juneja, who moved to the US from India for graduate school in 2023, is in the US on an F-1 STEM OPT visa. That means that if he lost his job and couldn’t find a new one in time, he’d have to leave the country.
Less than a year into his job at Amazon, Juneja came across a technical product manager opening at semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials. The role better matched his career goals, but Juneja also believed the company’s position in the AI chip supply chain might make it a more stable long-term bet than Big Tech. He accepted an offer in April.
Juneja is among the visa holders who say repeated layoffs have changed the calculus of working in Big Tech after years of job cuts. Since 2022, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple have collectively announced layoffs affecting more than 100,000 workers.
Any shift in where visa holders choose to work could have significant implications for Big Tech companies, which rely heavily on foreign talent. Federal data shows the “Magnificent 7” companies, including the likes of Amazon and Microsoft, have had more than 200,000 H-1B visa applications approved since October 2020.
How some visa holders are responding to layoff fears
Earlier this year, Ayush Raj Jha set out to land a more senior software engineering role than his one at Oracle, and ideally one that felt a bit more secure.
Jha, an H-1B visa holder from India, said repeated rounds of layoffs at Oracle and other large tech companies have left visa holders like him worried about their future in the US. If laid off, H-1B workers generally have 60 days to find another employer willing to sponsor their visa or leave the US.
“There’s constant fear and uncertainty,” Jha said.
He came across a staff software engineer opening at a customer service software company. It was privately owned, which he believed might make it less vulnerable to short-term pressure from shareholders and public markets — and, in turn, offer greater job stability. He accepted an offer in July.
Tech companies laid off nearly 150,000 workers between January and July — more than three times as many as any other sector — according to career transition firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Jason Finkelman, an Austin-based business immigration lawyer, said many of his clients are worried about layoffs and the potential impact of AI on their jobs.
“Clients are contacting me before being laid off to help think through the best immigration strategies and contingency plans because of so much economic uncertainty,” he said.
Rohit Srinivasa, an immigration attorney based in the Los Angeles area who works with startups and medium-sized tech companies, said he’s seen some visa holders change employers amid growing job security concerns.
Beyond job-switching, visa holders are responding to layoff fears by starting businesses or even leaving the country. Divij Kishore, an immigration attorney based in New York who works with clients across industries, said some clients have explored visa options that would let them pursue entrepreneurship instead of relying on an employer. Others, he said, have decided to relocate to Canada, Australia, Europe and elsewhere, taking their skills and experience with them.
“They’re working with the same organizations in the same field and industry,” he said. “It’s an effective brain drain.”
Read more about people who’ve found themselves at a corporate crossroads
Why leaving Big Tech isn’t easy
While several large tech companies have laid off workers in recent years, many visa holders still believe they’re among the best places to build their careers. Strong compensation, opportunities for career growth, and the chance to work on large-scale products remain powerful draws. Some workers said the alternative — a smaller tech company or startup — could feel even less stable.
Beyond pay and career growth, Big Tech companies can offer long-term experience sponsoring foreign workers.
Abhinav Bohra, an H-1B holder working as a data scientist at Amazon since 2019, said the company’s dedicated immigration team gives him confidence that his visa paperwork will be filed correctly and on time, while a smaller employer with less experience could be more prone to mistakes that could jeopardize his ability to remain in the US.
“At companies like Amazon, we know that our visas and our documents are handled by experts, so it feels much safer,” he said.
The advantages of working for a Big Tech employer, particularly one many visa holders once dreamed of joining, can make the decision to leave especially difficult.
David Chong’s TN visa was tied to his software engineering job at Microsoft, and leaving would put both his ability to remain in the US and the company’s green card process for him at risk. Still, he’d grown frustrated by a slow promotion timeline, and company restructurings that resulted in layoffs had moved him between teams.
Last September, Chong decided to give up his path toward a long-term future in the US. He left Microsoft, moved back to Canada, and began building an AI sales agent startup.
“For me, leaving Microsoft to start a business is a decision I don’t think my future self will regret, even if I fail,” he said.
Do you have a story to share? Reach out to the reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com, or via Signal at jzinkula.29.
Read the full article here
