• DoorDash laid off 1,250 employees on Wednesday to help cut costs.

• Insider spoke to a worker who was let go and needed to find a new job before their visa expired. 

• The worker said finding out they'd been laid off was the biggest challenge they'd ever faced.  

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a former DoorDash employee. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their privacy, but Insider has verified their identity and former employment. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I woke up on Wednesday morning, as usual, and checked my email around 9 a.m.. I immediately saw a message in my inbox that was sent around 4 a.m. PST with the subject line: "Your employment with DoorDash."

I opened it and was initially very confused. The email said DoorDash is reducing the size of its workforce and that my role was one of those being impacted by layoffs. I was in complete shock – there was no warning.

A couple of weeks ago, we had an all-hands meeting with the CEO but layoffs were not mentioned. So finding out I was being laid off this week feels sudden and unexpected. It is definitely very disappointing.

The email also outlined I would get around 17 weeks' pay as part of my severance package, which I think is reasonable and relatively generous.

I lost access to everything overnight

Even though I'd just been laid off, I knew I had work meetings scheduled for that day, so I went to open my laptop and log in. I had already been locked out of the device and I lost access to everything on it.

I messaged some of my colleagues to see if anyone else was experiencing the same thing and some of my peers had also been let go. I think they kept people that were necessary.

Being laid off from Doordash is a very heartbreaking moment for me. The saddest part is that I really liked what I was doing at DoorDash and my role was part of a very long-term career plan.

My visa is at risk now, which is a huge mental struggle

I really liked the job, but I was also dependent on it to stay in the States. I'm a visa holder and DoorDash was supposed to sponsor my green card. Without their sponsorship, I am no longer eligible for permanent residency in the United States.