This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Tanvi Pisal, a 29-year-old UX designer from India. She went by means of two layoffs inside a yr whereas working within the US. It has been edited for size and readability.
I’ve all the time seen the US because the land of opportunity.
I grew up in Pune, a metropolis in western India, the place I earned my bachelor’s diploma in software program engineering. After graduating, I labored in software program, person expertise, and interface design.
Again in 2019, design was nonetheless a comparatively new subject in India. I noticed a lot larger alternatives within the US, particularly in Silicon Valley, the place I may work with sensible minds and progressive expertise. That is once I determined to use to grasp’s applications within the US.
Within the fall of 2021, I moved to California to pursue a level associated to human-computer interplay at San José State College.
Throughout my last yr, I interned at a Bay Space healthcare tech startup that employed me after commencement.
I used to be engaged on STEM OPT, which allowed me to work within the US for as much as 3 years after graduating, and I hoped to remain longer on an H-1B visa. My firm sponsored me, however I wasn’t chosen within the lottery.
Again-to-back layoffs
I may see that AI was disrupting SaaS companies like mine.
So round June 2025, I anticipated the layoffs and began making use of for different full-time roles. I believed I would have extra time, however I used to be laid off just a few months later, in October.
I aggressively utilized for brand new roles, and in November, I acquired a suggestion for a product design place at a New York Metropolis recruiting firm, the place I would be designing its cell app. They requested me to relocate, and I did, regardless that they did not supply relocation assistance.
Tanvi Pisal
I bought most of my furnishings in San José, subleased my room, packed my life into 5 U-Haul bins, and shipped them to New York.
On quick discover, I discovered a shared condo in Newport, New Jersey. At $1,800 a month, it was all I may afford. I commuted an hour every method for 12-hour workplace shifts.
My world turned the wrong way up when, at some point on the workplace, I used to be abruptly laid off simply two weeks after beginning. The corporate gave solely obscure causes for the choice.
I would moved to New York simply 15 days earlier. I could not perceive why the corporate had me relocate from the West Coast to the East Coast solely to put me off.
I bear in mind strolling out of the workplace that day and sitting on the snow-covered sidewalk, questioning whether or not coming to the US had been the right decision.
Packing up my life into bins twice in a month
I picked myself up and began returning the issues I would purchased for my new life in New York whereas I nonetheless may.
The one factor I could not return was my desk, which I bought to the individual taking on my sublease. I informed my roommates to make use of up the groceries I’d simply purchased.
The entire ordeal — packing up my life twice in a month — price me about $6,000.
I flew again to California on December 25.
My Hail Mary try
At that time, I believed, “The worst has occurred.” I would misplaced the whole lot. My STEM OPT was about to run out, and I had 60 days to determine a method to keep within the US earlier than I would must return to India.
So I made a decision I’d as effectively give it one final strive.
Again in California, I spent three hours every day on LinkedIn Simple Apply, then focused functions earlier than constructing AI-powered design tasks to strengthen my portfolio.
It paid off. I landed an interview on January 5. From that week on, I had at the least two interviews every week.
Lastly, I interviewed for a UX designer function with a product group at a Big Tech company in Silicon Valley. After two interviews, they provided me a contract function in February. I could not consider it. I used to be so relieved.
My nervous system has not recovered
Though I’ve settled into my new condo in San José and am having fun with my new job, I nonetheless have not recovered from the trauma of the back-to-back layoffs.
I am all the time scared. Each time I get an e-mail or am referred to as into an unscheduled assembly, I really feel anxious. I have to know what it is about beforehand.
I’ve determined to proceed my research on the facet, enrolling in a Ph.D. program in enterprise administration at Westcliff College, with a focus in human-computer interplay. It permits me to remain within the US on a scholar visa.
I do not actually have a plan for the long run proper now, given how risky the immigration situation is. I am simply taking it at some point at a time, easing again right into a routine and making an attempt to reside my life usually.
Wanting again at my journey, I would not change a factor. The struggles have taught me a lot.
