Jun 05, 2026 15:26 pm IST

Opinion | Panic In Silicon Valley: Why 15,000 Indians Fled US Last Year - With More On Their Way

More than 15,000 Indian tech professionals returned home from the US in 2025, and 7,300 have already returned this year, driven by layoffs, visa denials, and a job market that's fast becoming a nightmare.

Naresh Kaushik Naresh Kaushik Columnist

Naresh Kaushik Columnist

A US-based Indian tech engineer's post on Reddit went viral late last month, in which the user claimed to have applied for more than 1,500 jobs over the previous few months without receiving a single call. The data engineer, who's been on an H-1B visa for the past three years, wrote, "Unfortunately, my current company has decided not to renew my H-1B application." This prompted other Indians in similar situations in the US to share their experiences and confirm how widespread and serious the job issue has become for Indian professionals there.

Each year, the US issues 85,000 three-year H-1B visas to foreign nationals, and the vast majority have gone to Indians. This visa - a work permit for highly skilled professionals - can be renewed for a further three years at the employer's request, leading to a green card and, eventually, US citizenship. In 2025, about 78% of H-1B visas went to Indians, up seven percentage points from 2024. Most top leaders in America's tech industry have taken this route, including the world's richest man, Elon Musk, Microsoft Chief Satya Nadella, Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, and Jayshree Ullas, the CEO of cloud networking company Arista Networks.

One can't blame young Indian professionals for aspiring to follow in the footsteps of these tech icons. But many young and mid-level engineers and other professionals are now facing a difficult period of job uncertainty, driven by the Trump administration's tough immigration policies, tech giants' growing embrace of AI, corporate restructuring, and a weakening economy. Hundreds of Indian tech engineers have already lost their jobs, and many more are at risk, with disastrous consequences for their families in the US and their dependents in India.

More than 15,000 Indian tech professionals returned home from the US in 2025, and 7,300 have already returned this year, according to the tech hiring and consulting firm Xpheno. The company told NDTV that the situation is worsening and that recent H-1B visa moves in the US could result in the number of returnees surpassing the number of Indian tech professionals moving to the US. Indian techies are "stepping........

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