Expats' right to remain in a country often depends on their job security
If expats aren't permanent residents of their host country yet, unfortunately, their right to live there is largely dependent on their employment contract.
This is especially true if they are on an employer-sponsored visa rather than a general work visa. For example, in the US, the OPT (Optional Practical Training) for recent international graduates of American universities is not employer-specific as long as the new expat remains within their general field of specialization. In comparison, the H1-B visa depends on the employer who sponsored the highly-skilled expat worker. This makes a holder of an H1-B much more vulnerable to deportation than an OPT-holder if they both lose their job.
If expats lose the job on which their visa was dependent, they generally have a 2-3 months grace period to find another job. For instance, under UK law, a laid-off expat has 60 days following cessation of employment to find another job or apply for another work visa without leaving the country. Their employer will inform UKVI, the immigration services, that their employment has been terminated. With a Skilled Worker visa or Tier 2 (General) work visa, this expat should be able to remain in the UK without applying for a new visa, provided, of course, that they find a new job within 60 days. However, their new employer will need to submit a new Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to the immigration authorities.
When residents or citizens of a country lose their jobs, they get rightfully worried about their ability to pay rent, buy groceries, and repay loans over the next few months. Laid-off expats are worried about not only these issues but also about their ability to remain in the country and not have a deportation stamp on their passports.
How can you increase your job security as an expat?
Some steps seem commonsensical: increase your productivity at work, keep upskilling through continuous learning, engage in meetings and volunteer. Building a solid professional network in the country where you are living can also make it easier for you to find a second job quickly in case you are laid off from your current one.
Become fluent in the local language, even if your current job requires you to mainly use English. If you need to look for another job, you will then also be able to apply to those requiring fluency in the local language. Keep abreast of the growth forecasts for your industry. If you see that the sector or company might possibly become less stable in a few years, finish switching jobs on your visa before you find yourself in a risky position.
Expats in Gulf countries and foreign tech workers in the US are struggling with job insecurity
In the last decade, most Gulf countries have been trying to nationalize their workforce. Since the 1970s, they have been extremely dependent on expat labor, but they are now trying to increase the employment rate among local citizens – which inevitably requires laying many expats off.
For instance, in Kuwait, the policy of “Kuwaitization” aims to replace 100% of expat workers with locals in 10 sectors and leave only 25-35% of expat workers in other sectors. The sectors where some expats will still be allowed to work include education and agriculture, but many expats in these fields are still getting dismissed or will be dismissed soon. Some are more vulnerable than others: for instance, expats over 60 will be automatically laid off, even if they are more competent or qualified than younger expats.
As work permits in the Gulf countries depend on a sponsorship system called the “kafala system,” it's nearly impossible for laid-off expat workers there to remain in the country on a different visa. The only different visas are usually for wealthy investors or expats with exceptional achievements in areas like scientific research. Many are returning to their home countries or moving to a completely different region.
Another country where expats are currently experiencing a crisis in job security is the US. The massive layoffs in the tech industry in 2023-2023 affected many expats, especially Indian expats on employer-specific H-1B visas. Thankfully, the US government modified the law slightly to allow them to apply for a 1-year Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which would give them enough time to find another sponsoring employer without being deported.
The workforce database Revelio Labs found that, thankfully, 90% of these laid-off tech expats managed to find another US-based job. Many had to take tech roles in other sectors outside of Big Tech companies and even relocated to another state to quickly get a new job. Revelio Labs found that these expats were much less picky about which new job to take up than US citizens, so they actually spent less time unemployed than laid-off tech workers who are citizens. This shows that openness to any job works well as a strategy, at least in the short term, if there is a job security crisis.
