Woman on O-1 visa laid off by Google just 6 months after being hired, now has 60 days to find new job

One woman affected by Google’s latest round of layoffs said she had 60 days to find her next opportunity or leave the United States as she is on an O-1 visa.

Published on: Oct 2, 2025, 09:21:56 IST

By Sanya Jain

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Google carried out layoffs in its Cloud division this week as part of its larger aim to become a faster and more efficient organization. The number of employees affected by the latest round of layoffs is not immediately clear, but several people took to LinkedIn to share that their roles had been made redundant.

Google has cut jobs in its Cloud division (REUTERS)

Among them was a woman on an O-1 visa who had been hired by Google just six months ago. She had earlier worked at Meta and Apple.

What is an O-1 visa?

An O-1 is a type of nonimmigrant visa granted by the United States to individuals of “extraordinary ability” in a certain field. Unlike an H-1B visa holder that can work in any degree-requiring specialty occupation with their sponsoring employer, an O-1 visa is reserved for people at the very top of their chosen field.

60 days to find work

In a post shared on LinkedIn, the woman affected by Google’s latest round of layoffs said she had 60 days to find her next opportunity or leave the United States. She had joined the firm just six months ago.

“I was unfortunately part of the Google Cloud layoffs yesterday, and it's sad to be saying goodbye after only 6 months joining a great team. It's tough knowing many talented colleagues are in the same boat,” she said.

“To add more to the challenge, I'm on an O-1 visa, so I have about 60 days to find my next opportunity before I have to make a rather significant international move…” the woman added.

She explained that at Google, her work was related to Quantitative UXR on Cloud Generative AI & Security. Before that, she was with Meta, where she worked on GenAI modeling, among other things.

“After I take a moment to absorb this, I'll be actively seeking roles where I can translate complex data into actionable business insights and help shape the future of human-centered technology. Any leads, connections or just conversations would be appreciated!” she concluded.

Layoffs at Google

According to a Business Insider report, the layoffs affected employees working in user experience roles, including those involved in design and UX research. Employees were told about the layoffs through email on Monday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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