According to layoffs.fyi, more than 23,000 tech workers have been laid off so far this month. For comparison, the site tracked 12,463 layoffs in October.
Facebook parent company Meta announced the first major job cuts in its history this week, eliminating 11,000 jobs. Like Twitter, Stripe, Brakes, Lyft, Netflix and other tech firms based in the Bay Area, many of the affected workers are immigrants here on work visas.
Unexpected layoffs can be upheaval in anyone’s life, but when an H-1B worker loses their job, the clock starts ticking very loudly: unless they find a new job or change their immigration status within 60 days. to leave the country. And with tech companies of every size issuing hiring freezes and planning further layoffs, their ability to live and work in the US is suddenly in question.
Earlier today, I hosted a Q&A with immigration attorney Sophie Alcorn for H-1B workers who have been laid off (or expect to be).
You get a new job, leave, or find another way to stay in the United States legally, but you must take some action within 60 days. It takes time for new employers to file paperwork with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, so start looking for new opportunities now, she said.
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“The best case scenario is that this new company will file your new employer change application and USCIS will receive the paperwork on or before the 59th day from your last day of employment,” Alcorn said.
“It will take at least three weeks to prepare everything,” which means that candidates and employers must move quickly as the days are dwindling. “You’ll probably need a signed offer around the 33rd,” she said.
Much of the information Alcorn provided was just as valuable to hiring managers as any number of reasons for the layoffs that could have combined to further complicate an already enigmatic process. For example, what happens to H-1B workers who are laid off while they are out of the country? Can intermarriage really solve the immigration problem? (Of course not!)
I asked Alcorn if she thought it would lead to an exodus of tech talent from Silicon Valley, as more people are laid off during a season when it’s traditionally difficult to land a new position.
“The American dream is still very important to immigrants,” she said. “A lot of people fight to find a way to stay here, not necessarily with the cost of living in the Bay Area. They still want what America stands for and will reevaluate their relationship with Big Tech and their work ethic.
3 tips for managing a remote engineering team
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I once ran an office where the CEO and I were two people who were not on the engineering team. We all sat around a large table as we had pods in the common work area.
Outside of our team lunches, the developers rarely talked to each other, as most communication was done through Slack, Jira, and GitHub. Today, that team works remotely.
In a post for TC+, entrepreneur and angel investor Kuan Wai (Greg) Soh shares his top tips for managing distributed engineering teams, including mandatory downtime and at least three hours when everyone is available to chat.
“We expect Slack messages to be responded to within an hour, that everyone can be reached if we call them, and that we work responsibly with our assigned partners,” he said.
Use IRS Code Section 1202 to sell your multi-million dollar startup tax-free
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Founding groups often choose a corporate structure like an LLC or S-Corp, but those hoping to raise more than $10 million should consider starting a C-corporation as a Qualified Small Business (QSB), advises tax attorney Vincent Aiello.
Under IRS Code Section 1202, founders who hold QSB stock for five years or more are exempt from paying capital gains taxes after the sale.
“It creates a significant tax savings advantage for entrepreneurs and small business investors,” says Aiello.
However, the effect of the exclusion depends on when the shares were last purchased, when the trade or business was carried on and various other factors.
Income-Based Finance: A New Playbook for Startup Fundraising
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Revenue-based financing makes early-stage startups less dependent on investors so they can retain more equity.
With terms usually ranging from 12-24 months, many groups use these funds for short-term projects, such as sales and marketing campaigns.
Miguel Fernandez, CEO and founder of Capchase, advises, “Startups should be funded using income-based financing as the return on these activities can exceed the cost of revenue-based financing.”
Pitch Deck Teardown: Cineroid’s $500K seed deck
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Stolen vehicle recovery systems have been available for decades, but a lost pet carries a high emotional burden.
According to Syneroid, the startup that makes smart tags, 10 million pets are lost in the United States each year, but “less than 30% are rehomed.”
After raising a $500,000 seed round at a $3.9 million valuation, the company’s founders shared the 12-slide pitch deck with TechCrunch for review. “No information has been changed or omitted,” wrote Haje Jan Kamps.
