Microsoft job, US life: This techie gave it all up to return to India. Here’s why?

Ujjwal Chadha shared his experience in a post on X, explaining why he chose to leave the US and move back to India despite knowing that he would earn less than he might have had he stayed.

“3 years ago I left the US, my Job at Microsoft and moved back to India. I make less than I would have if I’d stayed. Here’s everything I gained that my salary can’t show you,” Chadha wrote.

Reflecting on the uncertainty faced by immigrants in the US, he said he no longer wanted to spend years waiting for his circumstances to change.

“I stopped waiting. The version of me that stayed is still in a queue - visa, green card, 'once things are stable',” he wrote.

Chadha also spoke about what he described as the challenges of immigrant life in the US.

“I didn’t realize how much of American life for an immigrant is spent waiting for permission until I left and the waiting just stopped,” he said.

However, the most important factor behind his decision to return was his desire to spend more time with his parents.

“I got my parents back - while it still counts. This is the one nobody prices in. The US version of me would’ve seen them a week a year. I’ve now had years of ordinary evenings with them. You can earn more money later. You cannot earn back the years,” Chadha wrote.

His post has since sparked a lively debate on X, with users expressing sharply contrasting views about his decision to leave a high-paying US tech job and return to India.

One user bluntly commented: “Don’t ever come back.”

Another compared working in the US with moving to a Gulf country, writing: “I have never been to US but these it feels like moving to a Gulf country for job. one layoff and it’s game over.”

A third user took a more critical view of Chadha’s decision, referring to changes in US visa policies and arguing that returning to India may have been the more practical option.

The discussion has highlighted a broader debate among Indian professionals over whether higher salaries and career opportunities abroad outweigh factors such as immigration uncertainty, job security, family ties and quality of life.