A presidential advisory sub-committee has recommended the federal government to extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from the existing 60 days to 180 days so that the workers have enough opportunities to find a new job or other alternatives. “The immigration subcommittee recommends the Department of Homeland Security and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from 60 days to 180 days,” Ajay Jain Bhutoria, member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, said on Tuesday.
In his presentation, Bhutoria highlighted the significant challenges faced by H1-B workers laid off from their jobs. The current 60-day grace period presents numerous hurdles, including finding a new job within a tight timeframe, complex paperwork for transferring H1-B status, and delays in processing at USCIS, he said.
As a result, many H1-B workers are forced to leave the country which could result in a loss of skilled labour for the United States, he told members of the advisory commission.
Bhutoria, in his presentation, strongly advocated for the extension of the grace period, citing the need to support highly skilled tech employees who he said are essential to the economic growth of the United States. The extension would also provide affected employees with more time to navigate the complex and time-consuming process of finding new employment opportunities and transferring their H1-B status, he said.
Members of the commission, recognising the importance of supporting and retaining highly skilled tech employees, supported the move.
Monthly Archives: February 2023
Engineers who joined in-person perform better than remote workers
Engineers who joined Meta (formerly Facebook) when its offices were open performed better than those who joined the company remotely amid the pandemic, its Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stressed.
According to him, the early analysis of performance data suggests that engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely.
“This analysis also shows that engineers earlier in their career perform better on average when they work in-person with teammates at least three days a week,” said Zuckerberg in a memo, in which he announced to further cut 10,000 jobs and close around 5,000 additional open roles that it has not yet hired.
“Our hypothesis is that it is still easier to build trust in person and that those relationships help us work more effectively,” he added.
As part of its ‘Year of Efficiency’, Meta is focusing on finding ways to make sure people build the necessary connections to work effectively.
“In the meantime, I encourage all of you to find more opportunities to work with your colleagues in person,” said Meta CEO.
He said that we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years.
“Higher interest rates lead to the economy running leaner, more geopolitical instability leads to more volatility, and increased regulation leads to slower growth and increased costs of innovation,” Zuckerberg noted.