[pololee]

I was one of the people being let go in this round. I moved to Seattle and joined OCI as a Senior Engineer at the end of Jan 2019. Yesterday when I came to the office and was doing my work at 9:00 AM, the whole team about 20 people were called by VP to have a meeting at 10:00 AM. He said the whole team got terminated. We had to turn in the computer by 12:00 PM and leave the office by 3:00 PM. There was no buffer time at all.

Me: "Do I have to pay back sign on bonus and relocation? I've been here for less than 2 months."

VP: "You were supposed to, but I pushed it back to the management. Now you are forgiven. That's a very good question."

Me: ......................&^#^(%#&)@!

Today mark as my first out-of-employment day. I am on H-1B, which is an even worse situation. I'll need to find a new job ASAP :(

[luckydata]

That's complete bullshit, hiring bonuses don't have to be repaid if they terminate you for any reason. They were trying to make you feel like the manager went to bat for you, which isn't the case.

[shemnon42]

Check your employment paperwork. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. To make you pay it back after just hiring is a jerk move, but not all executives are kind.

[sys_64738]

My employer has that language in the employment offer. If for any reason during the first 12 months then the pro-rated remainder needs to be returned.usually through withholding future earnings.

[pololee]

The VP also mentioned they were thinking about the plan in Jan. So why the hell did you hire me then? I joined at the end of Jan.

[nradov]

Mass layoff decisions like this are typically made at a higher level of the organization. The executives don't give much advance notice to the middle managers who make hiring decisions for most engineers in order to prevent leaks.

[patrickyeon]

Hey friend, don't take it personally. A layoff indicates a failure (of planning, of budgeting, or whatever) at a much higher level of the organization than you

Your position may have been opened before the layoff decision was made, so they decided to leave it open so as not to raise suspicions (managers will rightfully get upset if headcount is taken away from them with no explanation). They might've know the number of people they needed to cull in January, but not decided where it would happen.

There's a lot of work in Seattle. If you're cunning maybe you can get a second hiring bonus in Q1 2019.

[john_moscow]

It is entirely plausible that they hired you so that they won't have to lay off someone they actually care about.

[sys_64738]

This has happened to me. Two weeks in the door and a massive layoff of peers occurs but I survived the hatchet as I came via a recruitment agency charging 20% of base salary. Higher ups can’t disclose plans until they’re executing them as it’s a warning sign something is afoot if a sudden hiring freeze occurs mid-quarter. Could be seen as disposing financial info unfairly.

[wyclif]

Sounds to me like "the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doeth" at Oracle. At least with regard to your department. But I agree with the guy who said not to take it personally. You shouldn't. It's more a commentary on the state of corporate flux than it is on your work, that's the healthiest way to view things.

[wyclif]

Sounds to me like "the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doeth" at Oracle. At least with regard to your department. But I agree with the other guy in this thread who said not to take it personally. You shouldn't. It's more a commentary on the state of corporate flux than it is on your work, that's the healthiest way to view things.

[jasonallen]

If you or anyone affected is interested: I'm hiring in AWS both in Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Email me at alljay at amazon.com.

[pnloyd]

Was on pololee's team as well. We were all crushed because the team was only a few months old and were we just all getting to know each other well.

[joneholland]

I’m hiring Sr developers right across the street at Expedia. Shoot me a note: joholland at expedia.com

[longcommonname]

Do companies like expedia look to hire people moving from the GDS? I'm not sure I want to stay in the travel industry, but I really like the challenging problems. Just not sure I want to stay with the current company I'm at.

[BurningFrog]

The H-1B situation, at least back in my day, is that formally you need a new job within X days, but in reality no one cares as long as you don't leave the country.

If you're unsure/nervous, talk to an immigration lawyer. A 1 hour consultation is quite affordable.

[kinkrtyavimoodh]

It's not that simple. Whenever you report the exact dates of employment (which you can't easily fudge as they have to match with what the employer can / will attest to), such as for applying for a Green card, it will be clear that you have been in violation of status, in case you were out of work for >60 days. And then you are at the mercy of USCIS/DHS. You also have to attest that you have not been in violation of status when you apply for a visa. Most people don't want to commit perjury by lying on Visa forms.

It should also be noted that this 60-day margin is a recent (2015 or so) relief by the Obama administration that for some reason managed to fly under the Trump radar of undoing Obama's immigration-related reprieves.

Before that, you would technically be in violation of status literally the next day of the firing. Imagine living in the US legally for 10+ yrs, having a house and kids here who are American citizens, and suddenly be in violation of status and expected to pack your bags and leave the next day coz you got laid off.

I see a lot of (well-justified) anger on HN against H-1B etc. but most citizens don't know what perversities our so called 'highly qualified' labor pool has to deal with. These are unique to the United States, btw. No other developed country has such a ridiculous work visa system.

[chillacy]

That's a bummer, reach out if you want a referral to another popular ex-OCI company in Seattle.

[donavanm]

Pololee and pnloyd feel free to reach out. There are plenty of related jobs in seattle.

[keyle]

Sorry to hear this sucks. Try to look at the silver lining, you don't want to work for such a company. I hope you find something very soon.

[kerng]

Isn't Seattle mostly OCI? Why the layoffs there?

[throwaway663]

What a win.