Surbhi Gupta, an engineer from India who appeared in Netflix's popular show 'Indian Matchmaking', was among the thousands of employees sacked by Facebook's parent company Meta last month, BBC reported.
Ms Gupta has been staying in the United States since 2009 and she worked in Meta as a Product Manager. She told the outlet that she did not expect that she would be fired as she was performing well at work. However, one morning, around 6am, she received a mail about the layoffs that shook her to the core. Ms Gupta said that she was unable to access the computer and the office gym which made her feel demoralised.
"At 6 am, I got the email. I couldn't access my computer or the office gym. It felt like a breakup," said Ms Gupta, who won the title of 'Miss Bharat-California' in a 2018 beauty pageant.
Speaking to the BBC, she also added she worked very hard to build a life in the US for "over 15 years". "It felt like the Titanic sinking because I was losing access to things one by one - workplace, then email, then laptop," she said.
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Further, as per the outlet, Ms Gupta was not immediately told to leave. Her last day at the company will be sometime in January. However, as she is on an H1-B visa, she will only be allowed to remain in the United States for 60 more days after she leaves Meta. "My ability to work and stay in the US depends on my H1-B visa," she said.
Ms Gupta remarked that her search for the new role won't be easy as it's the holiday season and most companies have slowed down the process of hiring. She said that her parents keep boosting her morale in tough times. "They tell me to stay strong because I'm a person who can convert problems into opportunities. They tell me 'aur kuch accha mil jayega' (you'll find something better)," she said.
However, she revealed that she is striving to stay focussed on her job search. She said that her former colleagues were being supportive, introducing her to new opportunities and giving her referrals.
Meanwhile, Meta parted ways with around 11,000 employees last month, which accounts for almost 13 percent of the company's workforce. The mass layoff came a week after Twitter fired thousands of its employees.
