Former Google employee explains why she left US for Dubai: ‘Being safe was riskiest move’

A former Google employee has revealed why she chose to leave a high-paying job in the United States and relocate to Dubai after more than a decade. 

In a series of videos posted on social media, Indian-origin Tanu Puri, who reportedly earned $300,000 at Google, reflected on what looked like an ideal life in Chicago: a home, a Google job and retirement savings, gradually beginning to feel limiting despite outward success.

In the first video, Puri said that by 2025, she and her family had started questioning the future they were building in the US.

“On paper, life was almost perfect. But slowly, we started to notice some cracks,” she said, describing how financial security no longer felt enough.

She explained that while staying in the US promised stability, it also came with a sense of dependence that left them dissatisfied. “We realised staying on this path meant financial security. But also, we would always need permission to even take a two-week vacation,” she said.

According to Puri, one of the biggest frustrations came from visa restrictions that prevented immigrants like her from pursuing independent ventures beyond salaried employment.

“We wanted real freedom. We wanted asymmetrical returns, the kind of time and wealth that you really can’t build on a salary,” she said, adding, “As immigrants on a visa in the US, our hands were tied. No side hustles. No startups. Just wait for your turn and hope your visa doesn’t expire.”

She said the fragility of corporate security became even clearer during the tech layoffs, recalling one moment that deeply affected her.

“I watched a friend open a 9 am email, go completely silent and whisper, ‘I am done’. Ten years of security gone in one email,” Puri said. “That’s when it hit me even harder that probably being safe was actually the riskiest move of all.”

The emotional burden of distance from family became even more pronounced after the birth of her son. Puri said becoming parents while living far from India intensified their sense of isolation.

“I still remember sitting at 3 am, exhausted, holding him and feeling this wave of loneliness. Our parents, our village, 8,000 miles away. No additional help. Just us — excited but very tired parents,” she said.

These experiences, she said, led them to make a bold decision: “While we loved our life in the US, we realised it was time to reinvent ourselves... and build our life in a different country, closer to home, on our own terms.”

In a later video, Puri explained that financial planning, especially tax savings, was another major factor behind choosing Dubai.

“Tax savings on investments was one of the biggest factors,” she said before breaking down a hypothetical example comparing returns in Chicago and Dubai.

Using an example of earning $1,00,000 annually through investments, she explained that taxes in Chicago could reduce that amount significantly, while Dubai’s tax-free regime allows investors to retain the full amount.

“In Chicago, of that 100k, you only got to keep 75k. But if you were living in Dubai, then of the 100k, you get to keep 100% of it,” she said.

Her story has resonated widely online, especially among immigrant professionals navigating visa uncertainty in the US, sparking conversations about the hidden costs of stability, migration and financial freedom.