COVID-19 Job Crisis Abroad: My Experience and Lessons from Fellow Expats

When COVID-19 hit, my comfortable expat life turned upside down overnight. Like thousands of other internationals scattered across the globe, I suddenly found myself questioning everything – my job security, my visa status, and whether I’d made the right choice living so far from home. Through countless WhatsApp calls and Zoom meetups with fellow expats, I discovered we were all riding the same rollercoaster of emotions, just on different tracks.

The Immediate Impact on Different Industries

As an English conversation teacher, I watched my carefully structured world crumble. Sure, teaching from my tiny apartment seemed doable at first – how hard could it be, right? Wrong. Without proper equipment, reliable internet, or a quiet space (thanks, neighbors!), my lessons became a comedy of errors. Schools were scrambling, students were frustrated, and many of us sensed the axe hovering over our contracts as “two-week lockdowns” stretched into months.

Over virtual happy hours, I heard similar stories from expats in every field imaginable:

• My engineer friends had to keep showing up to construction sites, obsessively sanitizing everything while video-calling worried families back home
• A buddy in industrial machinery watched his company freeze hiring and slash everyone’s hours – and paychecks – by 30%
• Healthcare workers I knew suddenly became heroes and targets, with job security but skyrocketing personal risk
• The couple running a hostel downtown? They went from fully booked to ghost town in 48 hours

The Probation Period Nightmare

The worst stories came from those still in their probation periods. I’ll never forget one friend’s bitter laugh when she said, “Three months into my dream job abroad, and they can let me go without any severance. Fantastic timing, universe.” That vulnerability haunted so many newcomers who’d just taken the leap into expat life.

Adapting to Remote Work Challenges

Switching to online teaching felt like learning a completely new profession. Suddenly, I was a YouTuber, graphic designer, and IT support all rolled into one. Every lesson needed twice the prep time, and don’t even get me started on trying to read the room through tiny Zoom windows. Parents had it even worse – imagine teaching while your own kids are melting down about their homeschool assignments in the background.

Ironically, the freelancers in our group were sitting pretty. “Welcome to my world,” one digital nomad friend joked. But even they struggled as the market flooded with newly remote workers all competing for the same gigs.

Financial Realities and Survival Strategies

Money conversations became painfully common. While some lucky souls had healthy emergency funds (note to past self: save more!), others were living paycheck to paycheck in expensive expat bubbles. The stories broke my heart:

• Fresh-faced teachers who’d just landed in Thailand, pockets empty after visa runs, receiving three weeks’ pay before indefinite unpaid leave
• Small business owners watching invoices go unpaid as their clients disappeared
• Parents choosing between groceries and international school fees while their own income evaporated

We shared every trick in the book: meal prepping with local ingredients, negotiating rent reductions, bartering skills for services. One landlord even voluntarily cut rent by 40% for struggling tenants – proof that humanity shines brightest in dark times.

The KITAS Dilemma and Visa Concerns

Losing your job as an expat isn’t just about money – it’s about your right to stay. Friends on company-sponsored visas lived in constant fear. “If I lose this job, I have 30 days to leave the country,” became a common refrain. The scramble for new positions wasn’t just about paying bills; it was about keeping the life we’d built from vanishing entirely.

Leadership Failures and Difficult Decisions

Not every boss rose to the occasion. Mine certainly didn’t. When he insisted on face-to-face meetings in Jakarta – while cases were exploding – I had to choose between my health and my paycheck. Standing up to him felt terrifying, but catching COVID felt worse. Sometimes protecting yourself means burning bridges, and that’s okay.

Hope and Resilience in the Expat Community

What amazed me most was our collective refusal to give up. We created job-sharing groups, skill-swapped like crazy, and checked in on each other constantly. “This too shall pass” became our mantra. Some found unexpected opportunities – companies suddenly needed multilingual remote workers, online tutoring exploded, and digital services boomed.

We learned hard lessons about emergency funds (six months minimum, folks!), multiple income streams, and the true value of expat friendships. Some friends had to pack up and head home, but others discovered talents they never knew they had.

Looking Forward

This pandemic fast-forwarded us into a new era of international work. Remote became the rule, not the exception. Digital skills went from “nice to have” to “must have.” But most importantly, we learned that thriving abroad means expecting the unexpected and building networks strong enough to catch us when we fall.

If you’re reading this while navigating your own COVID career crisis abroad, know that you’re not alone. We’ve all been there, crying into our laptops at 2 AM, wondering if we should just go home. But here’s what I learned: the same adventurous spirit that brought us abroad will see us through this. We didn’t choose the easy path by becoming expats, and this is just another unexpected detour on our journey. Keep pushing, keep connecting, and remember – the best stories come from the worst situations.