Thousands of Indian IT professionals now jobless scrambling for options to stay in the US

By Lalit K Jha Thousands of Indian IT professionals in the US, who have lost their jobs due to the series of recent layoffs at companies like Google, Microsoft and

Amazon, are now struggling to find new employment within the stipulated period under their work visas following the termination of their employment to stay in the country.

According to The Washington Post, nearly 200,000 IT workers have been laid off since November last year, including some record numbers in companies like Google, Microsoft,

Facebook and Amazon. As per some industry insiders, between 30 to 40 per cent of them are Indian IT professionals, a significant number of whom are on H-1B and L1

visas. 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. L-1A and L-1B visas are available for

temporary intracompany transferees who work in managerial positions or have specialised knowledge. A significantly large number of Indian IT professionals, who are on

non-immigrant work visas like H-1B are L1, are now scrambling for options to stay in the US to find a new job in the stipulated few months time that they get under these foreign

work visas after losing their jobs and change their visa status as well. Amazon staffer Gita (name changed) arrived in the US only three months ago. This week she was

told that March 20 is her last working day.