Highlights
- US-based technology companies hire many H-1B workers, most of whom come from countries such as India.
- While Twitter hasn’t extended any immigration support, Meta has dedicated immigration specialists who will help impacted employees and their families if they do not find a job in the next 60 days.
- The company said that employees in the US will get severance pay for 16 weeks, plus two “additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap”.
Meta laid off 13 per cent of its workforce on Wednesday. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has fired more than 11000 employees, including those working for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Unlike Twitter boss Elon Musk, Zuckerberg took full accountability for the Meta layoffs. “I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted,” he said.
Meta helping immigrants
Meta is offering severance pay to impacted employees and immigration support to foreign workers, including Indians.
“I know this is especially difficult if you’re here on a visa. There’s a notice period before termination and some visa grace periods, which means everyone will have time to make plans and work through their immigration status. We have dedicated immigration specialists to help guide you based on what you and your family need,” Zuckerberg said in the blog post.
US-based technology companies hire many H-1B workers, most of whom come from countries such as India.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Meta layoffs
“I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13 per cent and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1,” Zuckerberg said in a letter to employees.
Impact of layoffs
After mass layoffs at Meta and Twitter, many foreign workers, including many Indians, are looking for a job to stay back in the United States. While Twitter hasn’t extended any immigration support, Meta has dedicated immigration specialists who will help impacted employees and their families if they do not find a job in the next 60 days.
Many impacted employees hold H1B visa, which gives 60 days to get a job in the United States if terminated. If the affected employee fails to find a job in the specified time period, they will need to return to their home country and the original employer will need to bear the flight cost.
What is Meta doing to help?
The company said that employees in the US will get severance pay for 16 weeks, plus two “additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap”. Impacted employees will get all remaining PTO time, November 15, 2022 vesting, cost of healthcare for them and families for six months, and three months of career support with an external vendor (including early access to unpublished job leads).
The company confirmed that employees impacted outside of the United States will also get similar support and will share country-wise details with separate processes that take into account local employment laws. Currently, there are no specific details on the help that Indian employees impacted by the layoffs will get.
