US: Amid mass layoffs, workers in remote cities are in dilemma

Mumbai: Three years since the covid outbreak, knowledge workers, who had relocated to remote cities in the US during the pandemic, are in a spot following mass layoffs in the country.

Indians techies who had worked hard to fulfil their American dream, too, are now uncertain about their future. These techies spend sleepless nights wondering about their fate and trying to make alternative arrangements to be able to support their families.

Techies and other professionals, who started working from home in 2020 after the outbreak, moved from Silicon Valley to smaller towns. They abandoned their lavish lifestyles in small houses with high rents, huge electricity bills and massive expenses for children's education for their own and bigger houses, with a dramatically reduced cost of living and soon came to love this new lifestyle.

Cash grants, relocation assistance, tax breaks and more

In 2022, local governments such as those in Morgantown and Lewisburg in West Virginia, Greater Rochester in New York, and Tulsa in Oklahoma started offering cash grants, relocation assistance, tax breaks and property to workers to buy cheaper, bigger houses. In 2018, 25 workers relocated to remote cities, with the number growing to 900 in 2020. The number of remote workers making a move out of big towns soon picked up the pace with thousands settling in the suburbs.

This was a blessing in disguise as it not only gave the people an opportunity to spend quality time with families but improved their quality of life. They took up in-person jobs.

The workplace was a stone’s throw away and travel time a walk of a few minutes. The added advantage was flexi hours.

The current scenario

However, the good times did not last long. Companies started laying off people in 2023, with people in senior positions and experience of several years also losing their jobs.

The fate of workers in remote cities, aka ‘Zoom towns’, has not been different. Some people have accepted smaller pay cheques because of the low expenses. However, not everyone has been lucky enough to get a job.

This has led to uncertainty among the people, which took a toll on the health of the people who are distressed and overworked and are not sleeping well.