NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin, Germany, on December 1, 2022.

AP Photo/Michael Sohn

• NATO’s chief said Ukrainian invasion destroyed decades of work to improve relations post Cold War.
• He said “NATO strived for decades to develop a better, more constructive relationship with Russia.”
• But Russia “walked away from all this” and trust won’t come back even with a war end.

NATO’s chief said decades of work to improve relations with Russia since the end of the Cold War have been destroyed by the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNBC on Monday that the Western military alliance “strived for decades to develop a better, more constructive relationship with Russia.”

“After the end of the Cold War we established institutions [like the] NATO-Russia Council, when I was prime minister of Norway I remember that President Putin attended NATO summits … so this was a different time when we worked for a better relationship. Russia has walked away from all of this,” he said.

The Cold War ended in 1991, and the NATO-Russia Council was founded in 2002, with the aim of working as partners in areas of common interest.

Stoltenberg also said the invasion of Ukraine had destroyed relations to the extent that they could not be healed even with an end to the conflict.

“Even if the fighting ends, we will not return to some kind of normal, friendly, relationship with Russia. Trust has been destroyed,” he said.

Russia’s invasion has been widely condemned by the West and by many other countries around the world, leaving it the most isolated it has been in decades.

The war has also ramped up military and political tensions between Russia and NATO specifically.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin partly justified his invasion, which he launched in February, by saying that he was worried NATO was expanding eastwards, including into Ukraine.

Ironically, the invasion has only led to NATO’s likely expansion closer to Russia: Sweden and Russia neighbor Finland applied to join the alliance in light of the invasion, and are now in the final stages of the process.

Ukraine also applied to join the alliance in September. While this could take years, NATO has repeatedly said that it supports Ukraine joining one day, when it meets the criteria. 

Stoltenberg said last month that NATO will continue to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes”.

Officials and leaders in eastern European NATO member countries told Insider earlier this year that they felt many Western nations had been too confident in the past in believing they could trust Russia and change it through diplomacy and dialogue.

Sam Bankman-Fried expected to testify to Congress from his home in the Bahamas, he told options flow platform Unusual Whales.

om Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc via Getty Images

• Sam Bankman-Fried said he’d testify to Congress remotely from the Bahamas.
• He said this was because he was “quite overbooked,” and had security concerns about “paparazzi.” 
• Hours later, he was arrested by Bahamian authorities, and on Tuesday, was charged with fraud. 

Sam Bankman-Fried said he expected to testify to Congress remotely from the Bahamas because of concerns over “paparazzi,” in an interview with options flow platform Unusual Whales, on Monday, just hours before his arrest.

Bankman-Fried appeared in a Twitter Space with Unusual Whales while playing video games and said he would not be testifying to Congress in-person on Tuesday, and he would instead be “calling in,” from his Bahamas home. When asked why, he said he was “quite overbooked” and cited security concerns about “paparazzi.” 

He said that he needed to “get a better handle,” on his security, because “it’s very difficult for me to move right now and travel because the paparazzi effect is quite large.” 

Bankman-Fried had been set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday about how his crypto lending company FTX went bankrupt, and would be questioned by lawmakers about his knowledge of the misuse of funds at the firm.

In the Twitter Space, he also said that he wasn’t worried about being detained if he stepped foot in the US saying: “I don’t believe I would be.”

Bankman-Fried was then arrested by Bahamian authorities hours after the interview based on a “sealed indictment,” filed by the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.

The indictment was unsealed Tuesday morning and alleged that Bankman-Fried conducted a “massive, years-long fraud” against FTX customers.

“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a statement.

In November, Bankman-Fried’s crypto firms FTX and Alameda Research filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and he resigned as CEO. The collapse exposed the misuse of FTX customer funds, which were funneled into Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund.

Bankman-Fried embarked on an apology tour in the wake of FTX’s collapse, saying he could’ve avoided these problems if he had just spent more time thinking about risk management.

The recent layoffs across the tech industry have put many H-1B visa holders in a tight timeline to find a new job. It’s just the latest challenge in the visa system.

Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

• The recent tech layoffs have put those on H-1B visas on a time crunch to find a new job. 
• It’s the latest turbulence to a visa system that many say isn’t working for employees or employers.
• The challenges have immigrants looking to other countries’ tech industries for opportunities. 

Atal Agarwal first came to the US from India five years ago as a graduate student, eventually finding his way into the healthtech sector as a project manager. His employer sponsored his stay in the country, making him a holder of one of the United States’ coveted H-1B work visas. 

But when the tidal wave of layoffs in the tech industry hit his employer, Agarwal found himself without a job — setting off a stressful 60-day timer to either find a new one that would come with visa sponsorship, or return to India.

Big tech companies like Amazon, Meta, and Twitter have sponsored close to 45,000 H-1B visa holders in the last three years, according to a report from Bloomberg. It’s unclear how recent tech layoffs have impacted many visa-holders, but The Information reported that Meta and Amazon’s recent layoffs alone likely affected hundreds. 

Agarwal, and the many other visa-holders in this limbo after losing their tech jobs, are in for a real challenge if they want to stay in the US, lawyers and other experts told Insider. There are still tech jobs available even in a market downturn. Finding one willing to go through the time and expense of sponsoring an H-1B visa, however, is more difficult.

The whole experience has soured some, like Agarwal, on the idea of continuing to work in American tech at all when the threat of having to uproot an entire life is always lingering.

“Who would want to move their lives in this way?” Agarwal told Insider. 

Atal Agarwal is one of many H-1B visa holders who the tech industry’s recent layoffs have affected. He’s been building a life in the US for over five years, and recently participated in an Ironman race. He said the challenges in the visa system make it hard for immigrants to feel settled here.

Atal Agarwal

This feeling of disillusionment presents a competitive threat to the American tech sector. Companies like Amazon, Meta, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft have long relied on H-1B visas to bring in the talent they need to fill positions in specialized, competitive fields like engineering and computer science. Leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, have long advocated for reforming the H-1B system to allow more of that talent to work in the US. 

If the current situation continues as the combination of job losses, scarce availability of H-1B visas, and strict rules for visa-holders, this specialized workforce could bring their talents to places with more permissive policies like Canada or the nations of the European Union.

“I do think the US is still the hub of some of the smartest, most diverse people in the world who come here for education, working, and living,” Soundarya Balasubramani, an author and tech worker who lives in the US on a work visa, said. “But I also think that we might be overstating the impact of living in the US sometimes.” 

If that happens, experts and insiders warn, that could undermine America’s vaunted competitiveness in the tech sector.

“We have laws in effect today that don’t reflect the reality of the world we live in today in 2022,” Jason Finkelman, an immigration attorney based in Austin, Texas, said. “This antiquated immigration system does not provide robust, flexible options for the most talented, skilled foreign nationals to come to this country and work. And it hurts not only top talent, but it also hurts US employers seeking to grow and innovate with that.”

Disillusionment and frustration with working in the US

The net effect here is that the US could become less desirable as a place to live for immigrants looking to break into tech, several experts and tech workers said. Those who leave may not be interested in navigating the process for coming back, and the next generation may not be interested in the US at all.

Layoffs and bureaucracy have undermined Silicon Valley’s reputation as a good place for immigrants to build a life in the US, and might encourage some to either stay in their home countries or look elsewhere to find a job abroad, the experts said. It could hurt America’s ability to compete in the long run.

Indeed, some Indian immigrants to the US already see opportunities in returning home to participate in the country’s booming tech sector, Shruti Rajagopalan, an investor with Emergent Ventures, wrote in a recent blog post. 

The 60-day countdown to find a new job is even more stressful for those with families.

Finkelman said clients have told him they really only have two to three weeks to find new jobs, or they’ll spend the rest of their time pulling their kids out of school and making arrangements to get everyone out of the country before time runs out.

“That’s highly disruptive to any family,” he said. 

Actually finding those jobs is proving difficult for some, as well. One tech worker, who Twilio recently laid off, said that any job that might be willing to sponsor an H-1B visa now has at least ten other people interviewing at the same time. This person asked not to be named to preserve their professional-career prospects.

Many others have expressed similar experiences in Linkedin posts, saying they have a short window of time to find a new position and are open to any leads. 

Some, like Agarwal, found a job with time to spare and are able to stay in the US. But not everybody who needs a visa will be so fortunate.

“There’s no scenario in which everyone that got laid off, specifically those that are dependent on work authorization, are gonna get a job,” Manan Mehta, the founder of Unshackled Ventures, which helps immigrants found companies in the US, said. 

Experts said immigration reform is needed to turn things around

The entire situation has reignited calls for reform to the H-1B visa system, which has seen a turbulent past few years. The Trump administration tried to suspend much of the program in mid-2020. That effort, combined with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has slowed the approval process and added layers of bureaucracy.

Mehta suggested that a good start would be to lay a path for laid-off H-1B workers to go the entrepreneurial route and let them found their own startups.

Another useful area of reform would be to give visa-holders more flexibility to switch jobs without getting mired in bureaucracy, Romish Badani, the CEO of Bridge, a startup that helps employers manage the immigration process, said. His company provides legal aid and services for companies not familiar with the H-1B process so they can have the option to hire people who need visa sponsorship. Agarwal suggested that just more than 60 days to find a new job would help.

What the experts all agreed on, ultimately, is that some kind of change to the H-1B is necessary and overdue if the US wants to continue being an attractive market for specialized tech talent.

“These people are great builders,” Agarwal said. “So they are going to start building things in their own country, which impacts the economy of America.”

Are you an H-1B visa holder and have a story to share? Contact this reporter via email at pzaveri@insider.com or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) 

Tech workers are not likely to be out of a job for long.

Jaimie Trueblood/HBO

• Tech layoffs are rampant; last month alone, Amazon cut 10,000 workers and Meta slashed 11,000.
• But data shows job postings for tech-focused roles are up 25% this year.
• Most of the job growth is coming from nontech sectors, such as healthcare, defense, and banking.

The economy has not been kind to tech workers lately. 

Last month alone, Amazon cut 10,000 workers, Meta slashed 11,000 roles, and Twitter fired 3,750, or about half its workforce, amid high inflation and the threat of a recession.

But a newly released report suggests this group of workers ought to look on the bright side: Their job prospects appear pretty darn good. Job postings for tech-focused roles were up 25% from January to October, compared with the same period in 2021. The report, from Dice, a tech-careers site, found that companies posted more than 375,000 tech jobs in sectors including finance, consulting, healthcare.

Andrew Flowers, the lead labor economist at Appcast, a software firm that helps companies target recruitment ads, told Insider the recent high-profile layoffs “deserve a footnote” in the employment data but not a blaring headline.

“Giants like Meta, Amazon, and Twitter take up a lot of air space — and for good reason because they employ a lot of people in the tech industry,” he said. “But they do not define it.”

In other words, while a handful of Silicon Valley companies capture an enormous amount of media attention, they’re not reflective of wider industry trends and demand for tech talent. 

You could do worse than an exit package from Big Tech

Nearly 150,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in 2022, according to the layoff-tracking platform Layoffs.FYI. And there may be more to come before the year is out.

Losing your job is an emotional and financial gut punch, regardless of how privileged the worker is. And getting axed amid recession fears adds to the anxiety. 

Yet if it had to happen, you could do worse than an exit package from Big Tech, Julia Pollak, the chief economist at the jobs site ZipRecruiter, said.

“The best place to be laid off is in tech, where you’re being taken care of,” she said.

Laid-off employees at Meta last month, for instance, got 16 weeks of base pay, plus two weeks for each year of service, and six months of healthcare coverage, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time. Meanwhile, Amazon provides employees with a lump-sum severance payment equal to three months of pay, plus one week of salary for every six months of tenure at the company, and weekly stipends to offset healthcare premiums, according to company memos. Both companies also provide career support to laid-off employees.

But tech workers are not likely to be out of a job for long. The labor market is still tight and the unemployment rate for the industry remains remarkably low. A December analysis by CompTIA, an industry association, found it was hovering around 2%, while the nation’s overall unemployment rate sits at 3.7%. 

‘Pent-up demand’ for tech workers in healthcare, defense, and banking

Most of the job growth for tech workers is in other industries, the Dice report found. About 60% of the top 100 employers of tech talent for the first 10 months of the year were from less-glamorous, nontech sectors, like healthcare, defense, and banking. This reflects the reality that technology is both an industry and, at most companies, its own department. 

The unemployment rate for the tech industry is hovering around 2%, according to an analysis by CompTIA, an industry association.

Narisara Nami/Getty Images

“Every business in the US has to have a digital strategy,” Art Zeile, the CEO of Dice, said. “Coming out of the pandemic, companies realized that they didn’t have an online presence to the degree that they wanted, they didn’t have a work-from-home program, and they didn’t have a cybersecurity program that would allow for remote work. All of these things have created pent-up demand for technology workers.”

For years, companies across industries have struggled to hire engineers, product managers, and data scientists, mainly because they’ve been locked in a competition with Big Tech firms for workers.

“Those companies were growing so fast in 2020 and 2021 that they completely monopolized the tech talent and left no room for anyone else,” ZipRecruiter’s Pollak said.

Now that those firms are in turmoil — laying off workers and instituting hiring freezes — other companies, including insurers, government agencies, and healthcare businesses, will likely seize the recruiting opportunity, she said: “Those companies are all jumping for joy because they can snap up the talent that would have gone to a Google.”

But while demand for tech workers remains high, Pollak said that decreased competition from name-brand companies likely meant the stratospheric pay many Silicon Valley employees commanded would fall back down to earth.

“We are entering a period of cost cutting and increased frugality because of worsening economic conditions,” she said. “The arms race between tech companies on comp and benefits is over.”

Samuel Bankman-Fried.

Jabin Botsford/Getty Images

• The SEC on Tuesday said in a complaint it charged Samuel Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors.
• The SEC accused Bankman-Fried of “orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud.”
• “Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception,” SEC boss Gary Gensler said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday announced it has charged Samuel Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors in FTX, the crypto trading platform he cofounded.

In its complaint, the SEC accuses Bankman-Fried of “orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud” by diverting “billions of dollars” of FTX’s customer funds for “his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.”

The disgraced crypto founder, who was arrested on Monday in the Bahamas, raised more than $1.8 billion from investors, the SEC said in its complaint. 

The SEC accused Bankman-Fried of diverting FTX customers’ funds to Alameda Research, his crypto hedge fund, and using the funds to make “undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations,” per the complaint.

The SEC said in its complaint that Bankman-Fried hid this information from equity investors of FTX. The commission said his statements about customer assets being safe and secure were “false and misleading.”

“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” SEC chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

In November, Bankman-Fried continued to mislead investors because he needed to money “to plug a multi-billion-dollar hole,” the SEC claimed in the complaint.

The commission accused Bankman-Fried of violating sections of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, per the complaint.

FTX, which Bankman-Fried cofounded, and its affiliates collapsed in mid-November.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday based on a “sealed indictment” from US authorities, the US Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York announced on social media.

Authorities are “likely” to request extradition of Bankman-Fried, the Bahamas attorney general, Sen. Ryan Pinder KC, said in a statement.