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IIT Kanpur Alumnus Gautam Dev Struggles With Unemployment in the US After Career Setback.
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News18•13-10-2026, 17:09
IIT Kanpur Alumnus Gautam Dev Struggles With Unemployment in the US After Career Setback.
- •Gautam Dev, an IIT Kanpur graduate and Stony Brook University PhD holder with over two decades of tech experience, has been struggling with unemployment in the US for two years.
- •A fateful decision to quit his job in Dallas in September 2024 after refusing a state transfer upended his stable career, as age bias and market conditions made re-employment nearly impossible.
- •With his savings completely exhausted and mounting debts, he was forced to work as a gig worker for platforms like Uber and DoorDash to survive.
- •Facing a severe existential crisis, he resorted to GoFundMe crowdfunding to pay his rent and is now contemplating returning to India as he approaches age 62.
Key Questions Answered
In September 2024, Gautam Dev refused an employer order to relocate to another state for personal reasons and quit his job, assuming finding a new role with his extensive experience would be easy.
Gautam Dev holds an MSc from IIT Kanpur and a PhD in Physics from SUNY, Stony Brook University, alongside mastery of major technologies such as J2EE, XML, JSP, EJB, Struts, Oracle, and Hibernate.
After exhausting his savings and facing mounting debts, Gautam Dev worked as a gig worker on platforms like Uber, DoorDash, and Walmart Spark, and raised $9,000 through a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to pay his bills.
