Laid off from cap-exempt job — HR shared some useful info
Not positive info, sorry.
I am laid off soon due to research funding being cut. My job serach has been horrible, and I asked my current HR director about the vibes around the city in non-profit/research/higher-ed offices. I have reworked it to avoid identifiable information.
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employers, especially universities and non-profit institutions with limited budgets, are increasingly risk averse in this area. In truth the standards for what constitutes a position eligible for sponsorship have been steadily increasing over time (for example, even in 2024, [our University, top tier school in a big city] could no longer sponsor positions that would have been eligible just a few years before that). But currently, employer applications for sponsorship for even the most critical expert positions are met regularly with additional requests for evidence and associated delays. This has been our experience at [University]. The additional administrative burden combined with the unpredictability of fees for the employer associated with the process has led many organizations to think carefully about sponsorship. To be clear, we are still sponsoring certain positions, but only those that are highly specialized and mission critical. None of the positions that you have contacted me about would approach the threshold for specialization. I cannot speak directly to what other similar employers are doing, but I have anecdotal information that a number of organizations have stopped sponsoring for the moment, especially given the abundance of applicants who don't need sponsorship due to government layoffs.
Sadly, I do not expect this to change anytime soon.
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Not good news, but it's good to hear some explanations, and I hope it can help people tailor their searches a little. Good luck, everyone.