Indian laid off after 5 years with Microsoft in US: 'Since I am on H1B, clock’s ticking'

Alisha Acharya had worked with Microsoft for five years before being laid off.

Alisha Acharya was heartbroken when she was laid off by Microsoft recently. The former technical program manager had worked with the tech giant for five years in its Seattle office and is now on the lookout for another job. But, being in the US with an H1B visa, she has a limited amount of time to find employment again before being forced to return to India.

"Heartbroken," Acharya wrote on LinkedIn announcing the layoff. "I was impacted by the recent round of layoffs at Microsoft. It took me a few days to come to terms with this news but I am back to the grind now. Since I am on H1b, the clock’s ticking and I have limited time to look for a job." She also appealed to her connections to help her with possible leads.

Microsoft had on January 18 announced it would eliminate 10,000 jobs, almost 5 percent of the global workforce.

Acharya, who has also worked with TCS in the past, is among several other Indian professionals who are racing against time in the US, following mass layoffs, to land new jobs while they are on their H1B visa.

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Kunal Kumar Gupta worked as a technical program manager at Google in California. Last month, he was informed that his role at the IT giant had been eliminated as part of mass layoffs that will affect 6 percent of Google’s workforce.

"I am immediately open to work and would need immediate assistance to find a role as I am on an H1B visa which gives me 60 days to find a job," Gupta shared.

The H1B is a visa in the US under the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.

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