Happened to my son. Lost everything before he could get another position.
It's happened to me too.
Two years out of work since yesterday.
Companies think I'm too old to work for them.
But I haven't given up.
It’s easy enough to be angry at the foreign suppliers (be it India or China or wherever). Not as easy to be angry at the tax and spend fiends in Washington who are now burning our candles at both ends and in the middle. Because the latter get to be anonymous, but we can say “India” or “China.”
But it’s the drain and uncertainty brought on by these fiends that has created a great temptation for companies to embrace foreign sourcing; even if it is Pyrrhic in the long run it can mean survival in the short run where everyone cares about next quarter, not next decade, as even the President dances while Belgium burns.
The old business model used to be long term loyalty to direct hires. To be able to approach this again means driving the uncertainty and heinous penalties out of the system.
In a way, to one of mine also. He was working in Houston at a seismic company, and the oil bust led to a lot of layoffs. What is relevant though, is his insights on the H1-B situation.
As a white guy in a shop full of mostly Chinese H1-B's, with a Chinese boss, he was at a distinct disadvantage in the pecking order. He also commented that for many of these H1-B's, there's a requirement that they keep the job in order to keep their Green Cards. The companies know this, and know they can work them very long hours ("you're a salaried professional") by piling on lots of work and deadlines. At his company, at least, it was an intellectual sweat shop.
Some of the jobs he's been interviewing for have that same whiff of exploitation. STEM isn't what it used to be. I note that Zuckerberg is a huge H1-B fan, by the way.
We de-industrialized blue collar work by sending the factories abroad. Now we are deindustrializing STEM workers by flooding the market with foreigners. It's OK with me if you need someone and can't find an American to do a partcular job; it's not OK if it's an industry-wide wage-suppression mechanism.
I didn't know it was that bad.
Been there. Done that. Got the tshirt.
Bitter? Oh, a tad.
These jerks will be shocked, shocked I tell you when the pitchforks and torches show up outside their corner suite doors.
A friend of mine had the same thing happen. Lost the job then couldn’t find another fast enough, did several part time jobs instead not IT related. He had to sell his home and move half way across the country to his new job. Took a year to find that job.