That will be the case once H1-Bs are reformed and universal healthcare becomes real. Until then, this is an unrealistic and cruel position.
It is absolutely true that for some people, they don’t have a choice in just quitting because of healthcare or H1B stuff. That’s absolutely true. But we're now at the 8 month mark of Elon buying Twitter. If you truly feel like it is a toxic and untenable place to work, you have had opportunities to explore other options. That doesn’t mean I judge or fault people who have chosen to stay, but this wasn’t January when there were tons of layoffs and uncertainty. Things have calmed down and while job offers aren’t falling off trees like they were in 2021, it isn’t the complete end of the world either.
People do have some agency eight months in. Again, I won’t judge anyone for staying for whatever the reason is, but let’s not pretend as if every person remaining (H1B or not) is void of all agency.
Sure, if you are unskilled worker that's struggling from paycheck to paycheck, then you might not be able to easily change work.
But in our line of work, and ESPECIALLY if you are good enough to work at something like twitter, pretending we are force to work where we are is a cope.
Sure, maybe there are some extreme instances when it is the case, there are always exceptions. But on average, it's cringe when people who earn literally twice what the average population does talk about "job insecurity" and pretend they are in the same boat as trully struggling lower class worker.
Listened to some of that twitter spaces the other day about the Russian coup and discovered that there are grown adults using that word to label just about anything that doesn't fit with their stance.
It's a little embarrassing and very online.
Sure, you don't need to quit on the spot, but looking for options, absolutely
Amazing that someone can still hold that opinion, when all the evidence overwhelmingly contradicts that little nugget of pyrite.
Because the Hedonic treadmill exists, expenses are also higher for high-earning people than the average population's: why would you expect well-paid folk not to worry about being unable to afford paying for their car note, mortgage, child-care and other obligations. Your position would be reasonable if all costs were uniform, and people who earn double put all their money in savings and investments.
There’s some paperwork, but it’s not a major hurdle. Maybe a few grand in legal fees and a few hours of work on the employer side.
How small of a minority was it for Twitter after Elon fired a supermajority of the regular FTEs?
Also a lot of employers who had layoffs aren't sponsoring new Green cards because u know...
It is no fun being on H1B...
But still, that's no way near comperable to working class who, if they loose their current job, won't have just the inconvenience of flying back home, but will actually loose their (already below standard) day-to-day nessecities
Or are you talking about green cards, which is a completely different thing?
I thought you were talking about transferring the green card process, because I was talking about the green card process. Transfer is possible, but you have to be past a certain point that takes probably a couple of years, which is pretty good compared to how long I had to wait way back when.
It does make me wonder how much the ratio of forced labor H1B situations has gone up at Twitter as US citizens all bail from the fire.
I cannot imagine why anyone would work there if they had a choice at this point.
There are about 550 full-time engineers at Twitter. [1]
There are about 625-670 H1-B holders working at Twitter.[2]
This isn't quite the full story since of course H1-B holders might be doing other jobs than engineering; many of those 550 engineers are not US-based; there are other visas for foreign workers in the USA than the H1-B; and Musk has reassigned some workers from his other companies to work at Twitter.
But it sure looks like the answer is: a lot!
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/twitter-is-down-to-fewer-tha...
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2022/11/04/twitt...
After getting rid of 80% of employees, that number has surely dropped.
H1-B, now, as much as I am sympathetic to that (an immigrant coming from extreme poverty myself), I don't understand why HN treats losing a work visa as a death sentence.
The tragedy here is what exactly? That you get to go home to your family and a country with a safety net and free healthcare, as bad as it might be? Before you apply for a new job? Is that really worse than some narcissistic rich douche shaving the years off your life by working you into the ground like this?