Chinese tech workers on visas in the US struggle under massive lay-offs in Silicon Valley
- More than 152,000 technology workers were laid off last year, according to Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks global job cuts in tech companies
- Most foreign tech workers in the US are on temporary H-1B work visas, and many who lost their jobs only have 60 days to find new employment
In a 1,182-word letter, the tech billionaire and CEO revealed that the Menlo Park, California-based company was slashing 11,000 positions – about 13 per cent of the workforce supporting the largest social media network on the planet.
Wang, a Chinese national who only agreed to be identified by his last name, was among those who were surprised to be laid off by the Facebook owner on that crisp autumn day.
Within hours of receiving his termination notice, Wang’s access to internal systems and servers was cut, barely giving him enough time to hand over his duties to teammates. His email account stayed active for the remainder of the day, however, giving him time to bid farewell to more fortunate colleagues, who were spared from one of the largest job cuts in Silicon Valley last year.
“I didn’t expect it [to happen to me], as I was on a top-priority project”, Wang said in a telephone interview from Boston. “Mark even presented our work at Meta Connect in October,” he said, referring to the annual virtual reality event where Zuckerberg debuted full-body avatars last year.
Wang remained on Meta’s payroll until mid-January, which gave him eight weeks of extra salary – a payout that he acknowledged as being “generous”, considering that he had been a full-time employee for less than a year.