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Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

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Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the description, I would assume Germany, since that's precisely what happens here. But I can also imagine Germany is not the only state that allows its companies to act like this.

Why would workers from Eastern Europe not have passports? "Eastern European" typically means EU-member states, with Ukraine being the exception even before the war (within reasonable distance, populous enough for recruiters to go to). EU-citizens don't need a residency permit, and they have access to the social system in Germany. They're often not informed about their rights and that should be improved, but "they end…

> and they have access to the social system in Germany

This is with a huge asterisk. Workers (EU or otherwise) moving to Germany or any other country for that matter, have access to welfare only once they've contributed enough to the system, not right away.

Being highly vulnerable, having small kids or health issues may entitle you to some benefits right away, but welfare/unemployment benefits have a mandatory period of contributions to the system before you can claim them.

Sure, there are system savvy people, locals and immigrants alike, that have found loopholes and ways to game the system, turning welfare into a taxpayer-funded lifestyle, which is the topic of many heated political debates on the future of the socialist welfare safety system, as too many people rely on it and not enough contribute.

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#212
post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution is right there in OPs post: “give them three months on the books to find somewhere else that don't count against their visa. It will give them a chance to get settled and go on interviews.” Thats it. HR knows who is working on visa. Inform them of the situation, give them 3 months, take away all their accesses and let them spend the 3 months to look for a new job. Meta makes a bazillion USD pr year. Even…

It's even simpler: make 3 months notice mandatory across the board. Or heck, even 30 days notice would be a start. Of course there's no way you can rely on a corporation to do this voluntarily and regulation is unlikely given who pays the bills. I wish there was a way to make this happen but I keep hearing software workers don't need unions because we already make so much money and the better ones have nothing to wor…

Well I’m from Denmark with 3 months required by law (if you’ve been employeed more than 6 months. 1 month if its <6 months.), so I completely agree. Sometimes it just usually distracts from the conversion if you mention danish basic rights to americans :-)

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#213
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theoretically it is; practically corporations are implicitly immoral - they’re not human, they have no feelings, it’s only left to whatever (HR in this case) procedures are in place to ensure a positive outcome. Such procedures tend to fail when you move fast and break things.

No matter which way you try and slice it, there's always a human at the end of the decision. A human made the policies, a human made the layoff decision, a human decides to enforce policy.

At a certain point, we need to start piercing the corporate veil and hold people accountable.

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#215

I'm horrified by so many of the comments here that seem to lack even the most basic of human decency. Allow me to fill people in for those who have never uprooted your life and moved across the world for a job. It is a massive commitment on the part of the employee, where you sell the majority of your earthly possessions, property, cars, etc. Then you go through an immigration process which even if its handled by FAA…

That was a pretty strong post until Elon got dragged into it.

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#216
post #140

Layoffs are a fact of life in running a business. Treating people poorly is a choice.

Do we have a reason to believe he was treated poorly?

I think the article describes in detail someone being treated poorly yes.

Even in mass layoffs, every single employee should be treated with more care and consideration than this. Freezing hires entirely for a period before any layoffs could prevent this from happening for example.

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

[flagged]

I am assuming you haven't spent much time around the kind of people that didn't approve of the vaccine. Let me write out a string of thoughts that support saying empathy isn't a great core principle.

At the start of the pandemic we are told it's no big deal. Then a few weeks later it's a massive deal. At first masks don't work so don't rush out and buy them. Then masks are mandatory in all public places. We then put society on hold for about a year. Finally we have an experimental drug that helps you be protected from the virus. YOU MUST TAKE THE DRUG! Don't want it? YOU MUST TAKE THE DRUG! You already had COVID and recovered? YOU MUST TAKE THE DRUG! You had a legitimate medical reaction to a previous vaccine? YOU MUST TAKE THE DRUG!

That process broke the trust of a significant amount of people. Why trust the establishment when they change their minds all the time and demand demand demand? If they do all these things in the name of empathy, empathy shouldn't be the base principle.

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#218
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the title?

Yes. It doesn't say anything about how they compensated him.

Is there always a dollar figure when some treatment becomes acceptable?

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#219
So many commenters here (presumably US/CA citizens) don't realize that the gut-wrenching feeling of being laid off whilst your visa depends on uninterrupted employment is _nothing_ like the SHTF-but-all's-ok feeling of being laid off 'regularly'.

In the USA, for most work visas, you are given a 60 day death clock pleasantly sugarcoated as a 'grace period' to find a new employer or leave the country. Cue trying weave in that baggage in between screening calls & technical interviews to explain to prospective employers how you have 47 days and 15 hours left to be hired or leave. The complication of dealing with USCIS and attaining a work visa (usually bound to your employer) is a marathon even with unlimited time, but in a puny 8 week window?...

In my own experience this also happened in mid 2021 when Australia's borders were closed (to AU citizens as well...) so leaving back home wasn't even an option.

Re: Meta fires a software engineer two days after he relocated from India to Canada

#220
post #160

I'm horrified by so many of the comments here that seem to lack even the most basic of human decency. Allow me to fill people in for those who have never uprooted your life and moved across the world for a job. It is a massive commitment on the part of the employee, where you sell the majority of your earthly possessions, property, cars, etc. Then you go through an immigration process which even if its handled by FAA…

This very much depends on the person. When I moved abroad when I was 23 I did so with nothing more than the backpack I brought along. If they’d let me go two days later I would have bought a ticket home and returned to my previous job. If I did the same thing now, I would have to sell my house, somehow ship all my posessions to the other country without inconveniencing my wife and child, etc. I’d have to be damn cert…

> When I moved abroad when I was 23 I did so with nothing more than the backpack I brought along.

That was my experience. I moved to the US, stayed in a hostel for a month, it seems very normal. At that age, you're also more likely to be able to rely on your parents if things go wrong.

20 years later, I relocated again. This was a different story. Even without a family, it was a much bigger commitment. Over the years, we accumulate goods, friends, job security, we start to worry about saving for retirement and want to avoid mistakes.

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