Microsoft techie claims he was laid off for being ‘relatively young’: ‘I’m the sole earner in my family’

A Hyderabad-based software engineer at Microsoft has claimed that he was among employees laid off the company because he was “relatively young” and was assumed to have fewer responsibilities. The techie, who said he has around 3 years of experience, shared his experience in a Reddit post titled, “Got laid off from Microsoft yesterday with 3 YOE – Need guidance”.The techie said that most of his team was laid off during the latest round, and he was also impacted. (Unsplash/Representational Image)In the post, the engineer said that most of his team was laid off during the latest round and he was also impacted. Recalling his conversation with his manager, he wrote that the manager said that he was “still relatively young” and assumed he did not have “major responsibilities yet”, which was why his name was included in the headcount reduction.However, the techie clarified that he did not believe this was the actual reason for his layoff, suggesting that his manager may have been trying to console him during the conversation.(Also Read: Techie shares why he quit his ‘dream job’ at Microsoft: ‘My life was on autopilot’)He said that the reality of his financial responsibilities was very different. “I’m the sole earner in my family, support my parents, help fund my ser’s education, and am also taking care of a loan my dad had taken,” he wrote.Following the layoff, the techie said that he was actively looking for a new opportunity and appealed for referrals and leads. “I have around 3 years of experience across backend and full-stack engineering, and recently I’ve been heavily working on Agentic AI projects and participating in hackathons. I’m comfortable taking a project from 0 → 1 independently,” he wrote.He said that he was open to Software Engineer 2 and Software Engineer roles at big tech companies, startups and firms in other sectors, and was willing to relocate. He also said he was open to freelance and contract work involving backend, full-stack or AI/Agentic AI development.(Also Read: Bengaluru techie says buying a home brought what renting never could: ‘It was not my journey alone’)Social media reactionsThe post drew reactions from social media users, with some questioning the reasoning allegedly given the manager.One user wrote, “Bruh, these married managers think they are higher in the responsibility sector then youngsters. What kinda reason is assumption due to no responsibilities , you are being layed off? This is discriminatory.””I’m so sorry, and that’s super absurd. Like did they do it as a part of the review? I thought we were all safe for a while after the major layoffs happened, but I guess not huh,” commented another.”Software jobs have turned musical chair game now,” remarked a third user.”There is no point working for FAANG, choose mid tier IT company and live a peaceful life,” said another.(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)