Microsoft Employee, 62, Laid Off After 20 Years: "It Feels Like A Betrayal"

Joe Friend, a 62-year-old former Microsoft director, was laid off in May this year after dedicating nearly two decades to the tech giant. Six months prior, Friend, a director of product management leading a team of nine, heard rumours of company restructuring impacting managers. He didn't think his role was at risk, but he was mistaken. In May, he found out he and 14 others in his group, including four managers, were laid off. Friend shared his experiences with Business Insider, discussing his three tenures at Microsoft, key takeaways from his time there and the financial implications of his layoff. 

Notably, he had planned to stay at Microsoft until his 65th birthday, ensuring stock grants continued to vest, and then consider retirement or a career shift. "I wasn't entirely surprised by the layoffs. I was surprised to get caught up in them," said the 62-year-old. 

This isn't Friend's first stint at Microsoft. He joined in 1994 as a lead program manager, working on Microsoft Word. In 1997, he and his family moved to Indonesia, where he spent over six years with an international NGO. 

When he returned to the US in 2003, he thought about continuing in the nonprofit sector but found it wasn't financially sustainable. So, he returned to the tech world and rejoined Microsoft. Friend spent the next 14 years at the company, but by early 2017, he began to feel burned out and decided it was time for a change.

He interviewed at several large firms but quickly realised they weren't the right fit. He then joined the developer platform Stack Overflow, which gave him the change of pace he was looking for. But soon, Microsoft reached out again. Someone he knew at the company encouraged him to join their team. Though hesitant at first, he agreed to listen, and was impressed by what he saw.

"I was really impressed with what I saw as significant cultural change at the company and agreed to go back," he said. Friend returned to Microsoft in 2018 and stayed until May 2025, when he found out he had been laid off.

The layoff feels like a betrayal to Friend, who believes Microsoft has broken its unwritten promise of job security and financial rewards for loyal employees. He's now considering alternative paths, prioritising passion over pay.

Following his layoff, Friend received his regular pay until mid-July, when he got a substantial lump-sum severance package roughly equivalent to his projected earnings for the rest of the year. He acknowledged being in a stable financial situation, allowing him the breathing room to plan his next move.

"I'd rather earn $50,000 a year doing something I'm excited about," he said, ruling out another Big Tech job.

Microsoft's layoffs are part of a broader trend in the tech industry, with companies like Google, Intel, and Amazon also reducing management layers. While overall layoffs remain low, tech workers have been disproportionately affected.

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