Twitter and other tech layoffs leave H-1B visa holders in a pickle: Reports

The acquisition of the microblogging social media platform Twitter by Tesla CEO Elon Musk has led to a string of monumental policy changes in the company. While according to Musk, he has no other options left, the new policy decisions have sparked a lot of controversies and debate globally. One such decision is causing havoc in the mass layoffs in the company which initially had around 7,000 employees.

On Thursday an email was sent with the subject line “Your Role at Twitter” to all the employees in the firm. The employees who were laid off received the mail in their personal mail IDs. Twitter is not the only tech company which conducted mass layoffs, many other tech giants have joined the bandwagon as well. While the news of being laid off was already hard for many employees, it became worse for those who are now holding H-1B visas. The tragedy becomes even more ironic since Musk himself was an H-1B visa holder. 

The tech layoffs and what’s ahead for the visa holders

The wave of mass layoffs by the tech giants is now causing havoc in the lives of many, especially those who are H-1B and L1, visa holders. Forbes cited that around 8 per cent of the Twitter employees were H-1B visa holders, the numbers are estimated since Twitter has never released this information. On Thursday Stripe CEO Patrick Collison also sent emails of termination to the employees. Forbes reported that the company reduced its size by around 14 per cent. 

The H-1B is a visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 101 that allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations. Many international students who join the workforce can be eligible for visas. Now that the visa holders have lost their jobs in the company, the problem for them is about to begin. 

According to the Court of Federal Regulations (CFR), “Once employment is terminated, an H-1B visa holder enters a 60-day grace period during which he or she needs to leave the US, seek a change of status or have another employer file an H-1B petition or other immigration petition on their behalf.”

Hence if the workers intend to stay in the USA they have to get another employment where the employers have to file the petition within the grace period. The situation of the L1 visa holders becomes worse since their intra-company transfer visa will end after their termination and they will have to leave the country immediately. Making it even worse for them to figure out the mayhem without a grace period. 

The potential of Twitter lawsuit to set precedent

On Thursday a civil class action lawsuit was filed against Twitter in the San Francisco Federal Court. The lawsuit asserted that the mass layoffs done by Twitter violate the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). The Act clarifies that in the case of a termination the employee is entitled to get a 60-day advance notice. 

The lawsuit now has the potential to set precedent when it comes to the wave of massive layoffs in tech companies. If the decision goes in the favour of the plaintiff, the employees can take a sigh of relief. While commenting on the mass layoffs, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey apologised to the employees owning his responsibility Dorsey said, “That many will be angry with me.”