Meta, Amazon Layoffs: Why Indian H-1B Workers Have Just 60 Days To Save Their American Dream

For years, Indian engineers and software developers helped build America's biggest tech companies. They wrote code, led teams, bought homes, raised families, and settled into what many believed was a stable life overseas. Now, for thousands of them, one email is changing everything.

The latest wave of layoffs across the US tech industry is doing more than cutting jobs. It is reopening an old fear among Indian professionals in America - the fear that losing a job could also mean losing the right to stay in the country.

The 60-Day Clock

Most Indian tech professionals in America work on H-1B visas, which are tied directly to their employers. Once they lose their jobs, the clock starts ticking. Under US immigration rules, they usually get just 60 days to find another employer willing to sponsor their visa. If they fail, they are expected to leave the country. Intuit Layoffs 2026: QuickBooks and TurboTax Parent To Cut Jobs, Close Offices in AI Shift.

That pressure changes everything. A layoff suddenly becomes more than a professional setback. It becomes a race against time involving immigration paperwork, mortgage payments, school admissions, healthcare, and family decisions.

Many Indians working in the US have spent years waiting for green cards trapped in enormous backlogs. Some have children born in America. Others have bought homes assuming they would continue living there long-term. Losing a job throws all those plans into uncertainty almost overnight. Mark Zuckerberg Says ‘Success Isn’t a Given’ in Memo As Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs in Biggest Layoff Since 2022.

Silicon Valley's Layoff Wave

Companies across Silicon Valley have once again entered cost-cutting mode. Meta has cut about 8,000 jobs as it aggressively shifts resources toward artificial intelligence. Amazon continues to trim teams after multiple rounds of cuts. LinkedIn too has reduced roles in recent months as the tech industry restructures itself around AI and automation. According to Layoffs.fyi, more than 110,000 employees across tech companies have lost jobs this year alone - a significant portion of them believed to be foreign workers, especially Indians, who remain the largest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa programme.

The B-2 Escape Route - and Its Limits

With finding a new sponsor becoming harder, many laid-off workers are turning to temporary alternatives. One of the most common routes is switching to a B-2 visitor visa, which can allow a person to remain in the country for a few additional months while searching for another employer. However, recent reports suggest US authorities are now scrutinising such applications far more closely than before, with immigration lawyers pointing to rising requests for additional documents and tougher questioning around change-of-status filings.

AI Is Making It Worse

The layoffs are arriving at a time when AI is rapidly changing hiring patterns across the tech industry. Meta alone is expected to spend over INR 100 billion this year on AI-related investments. That shift is creating a new fear among workers - that the slowdown may not be temporary. Many professionals now worry that AI could permanently reduce hiring demand across some tech functions, especially for routine engineering and support roles.

Rethinking the American Dream

The uncertainty is also changing how many Indians view the American dream itself. A recent Blind poll suggested that nearly half of Indian professionals in the US would consider returning to India if they lost their jobs. Others are looking at Canada and Europe as alternatives. The emotional strain of living under visa uncertainty is becoming harder to ignore. Workers often cannot take career breaks freely, switch jobs casually, or remain unemployed for long periods. One layoff can disrupt an entire family's life.

For Indian H-1B workers, the latest tech layoff wave is not just an employment crisis. It is an immigration crisis - and for thousands of families, the countdown has already begun.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 21, 2026 10:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).