E-Paper
Laid-off after becoming US citizen, Indian man now drives Uber in San Francisco
An Indian-American techie, after 15 years in the US and a stint as a project manager, is now driving for Uber following his layoff from Cognizant.
The founder of a San Francisco-based startup has claimed that he met an India-born US citizen who has taken to driving an Uber after being laid off. Ronald Netawat said he ordered an Uber ride and was surprised to see a swanky Tesla pull up.
Striking up a conversation with the Uber driver revealed that he was an Indian man in his late 40s who had arrived in the United States almost two decades ago, built an impressive career in tech, was recently laid off by Cognizant and now drives an Uber.
From Apple to Uber
Netawat, Founding Research Engineer at Antim Labs, shared his experience on the social media platform X. He explained that his Uber driver was an Indian man who had 25 years of experience in project management.
In 2007, the unnamed driver arrived in the United States on an H-1B visa. He worked for some leading companies like Verizon and Apple, and even became the CTO of an IT firm.
After 15 years in the US, the Indian techie obtained US citizenship. However, he was recently laid off by Cognizant, forcing him to reevaluate his career trajectory.
Instead of signing up for another project manager role, the Indian-American man decided to start driving for Uber. (Also read: Indian-American Giga CEO accused of snubbing new employee; he quit on Day 1)
Posting about his experience, Ronald Netawat wrote: “SF is insane. Took an Uber. a blue Tesla Model Y. Indian driver, late 40s. 25 years of PM experience, ex-Apple, Verizon, and a CTO of an IT company. Came to USA in 2007 on an H-1B and became a citizen after 15 years. Got laid off by Cognizant as a PM, and now drives an Uber.”
He also shared screenshots of the driver’s LinkedIn profile as proof.
H-1B debate
The post sparked a debate on the H-1B visa, which allows skilled workers to temporarily live and work in the United States. The visa program has come under increasing scrutiny in the last few months over concerns about foreigners taking away jobs from Americans.
“Exactly the kind of people H1b was not intended for. From mediocre college, body shop experience, ‘manager’, chucked out because they finally discovered he couldn't code,” wrote one person
“Going by his LinkedIn it seems like he did not write or understand any code. He probably shouldn't have been a high skilled/high income tech employee in the first place, in this case the layoff & subsequent career change was just market correcting the zirp era mistakes,” another said.
X user Piero wrote: “Brother, he drives an uber because he likes it. With that resume and work experience he has to be good financially.”
