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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

#271

While I've never experienced a similar situation myself, I've had several friends and acquaintances who have had similar issues with tech jobs that required relocation from Canada to the US - from having jobs rescinded last minute after selling their home in Canada, to being downsized due to company cutbacks within days or weeks of starting the new job (after all, new employees are more likely to be let go during tho…

Do immigrants do this often? I mean sell their houses, cars and other belongings before moving abroad? It's a sincere question from someone who also considered emigrating for work at some point. I could never imagine getting rid of all my stuff before I actually sit down in the office with my new bosses and co-workers for a couple of months and have a taste of what it is like. I won't be buying any house or a car in the new place right away anyway. I could just rent both before I decide I want to stay there for good. Or am I talking from some sort of a privileged position of a person who has some savings to deal with situations like this ... or maybe I'm too conservative and that's why I never left?

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

#272
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[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…

Yep, pretty much hits the nail on the head. It’s not so much about empathy vs. feigning it for internet points. I can empathize with the situation in OP, but not in an outsized proportion to what’s occurred in society in the past few years. The same folks repping “empathy” were laughing to the bank when humans were locked in cages for getting around the vaccine mandate in their own way.

There’s people who were forced to sell their homes, lost their jobs, and can’t move back to the place they grew up right here on American soil - in layman’s terms, I’m out of f’s to give.

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

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not true, everyone affected gets the package whether they joined 2 days ago or 2 years ago.

I don't know that, I don't work for Meta. Would be nice if you can share source to back your claim, if Meta is paying whole package to somebody who only worked for 2 days then that would be entirely different story for that guy.

You can skimp on the extras, but you cannot skimp on the basics. It’s their fault for hiring him after all. Not his fault for coming to the US and trusting them.

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

#274
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so many of the comments here that seem to lack even the most basic of human decency Reading them, so am I. There is no sign of empathy: that understanding of another individual, the ability to put oneself in someone else's shoes, that is fundamental to a healthy society and (IMO) personal integrity. I read a comment a few years ago that no-one thinks of themselves as a bad person. To yourself, you are always okay.…

I can't stand reading the conversations on HN about anything related to the well-being or suffering of other people. I try to limit myself to technical topics only, or I start to get depressed and/or angry.

Even in technical discussions, you can observe arrogance and dismissal by commenters who are unacceptably underqualified in the subjects being discussed. This place has become a joke nowadays.

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

#275
post #271

While I've never experienced a similar situation myself, I've had several friends and acquaintances who have had similar issues with tech jobs that required relocation from Canada to the US - from having jobs rescinded last minute after selling their home in Canada, to being downsized due to company cutbacks within days or weeks of starting the new job (after all, new employees are more likely to be let go during tho…

Do immigrants do this often? I mean sell their houses, cars and other belongings before moving abroad? It's a sincere question from someone who also considered emigrating for work at some point. I could never imagine getting rid of all my stuff before I actually sit down in the office with my new bosses and co-workers for a couple of months and have a taste of what it is like. I won't be buying any house or a car in…

Getting rid of excess possessions after you leave your original country is much harder.

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

#276

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…

And so many people are okay coming into another country and wage dump because "its their right" to move halfway across the world to work in the USA or EU.

See stuff like: https://www.thelocal.se/20070523/7387/

You can't have it both ways.

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I guess this is just CBS being racist :)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-h-1b-visas-have-been-abused...

"But this week on 60 Minutes, correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that the H-1B visa program has since been seriously abused, allowing companies to fire American workers and to bring in cheap foreign labor."

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No no, just downvote me more, don't reply, don't discuss, just hide what is uncomfortable.

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

#277
And so many people are okay coming into another country and wage dump because "its their right" to move halfway across the world to work in the USA or EU.

See stuff like: https://www.thelocal.se/20070523/7387/

You can't have it both ways.

----

I guess this is just CBS being racist :)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-h-1b-visas-have-been-abused...

"But this week on 60 Minutes, correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that the H-1B visa program has since been seriously abused, allowing companies to fire American workers and to bring in cheap foreign labor."

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

#278
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this literally what's happening? (Except it's 4 months, not 3?)

The problem is not so much the money, but the damn Visa: The moment you become unemployed, the countdown clock to deportation starts ticking. This is a HUGE stress, and also puts you at a disadvantage against your prospect employers. IMHO, there should be legislation for covering these cases. I.e. when you sponsor a Visa as an employer, it should be mandatory to pay the employee for a minimum of 12-24 months. If you…

This why it happens, the company I work with would rather hire someone who is in a tight bind if their employment goes away, they'll work harder, be scared to lose it. etc. its called the H1B solution

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

#279
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do agree, but I guess I'm not sure what the solution is here? Large layoffs in large orgs are generally done at a team level rather than an individual level. So presumably this individual's entire team no longer exists. So out of respect for them relocating do you then try to reposition them in the company somehow? And what about all the people who didn't relocate but may have recently left stable job for an opport…

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…

My company’s been through multiple rounds of large layoffs. This was standard SOP.

People on immigration visas were not given traditional severances. They were simply kept on the books for that period of time without having any access to any resources and/or being expected to do any work.

I’m not entirely sure what happened if they started a job before the period ended. Whether they got the rest of the money as severance or forfeited it but I doubt they really cared.

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

#280

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…

> If you ask someone to move across the world and don't need them anymore, 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. Or don't recruit internationally.

Or, don't relocate [internationally] to a job which can fire you with zero notice or compensation?

Don't get me wrong I agree with the sentiment of it being a Dick Move, but the only protection from that is contractual. Saying "please be nice" is not a serious direction to corporate governance.

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