‘Feels like betrayal’: Manager who gave 20 years to Microsoft shocked at being laid off

A man who gave two decades of his life to Microsoft was laid off the tech giant in May this year. Joe Friend, 62, is still trying to figure out what he will do next, but he is sure of one thing — he won’t be returning to Big Tech. A laid-off Microsoft manager opens up about the sense of betrayal he felt.(Bloomberg) Friend spoke to Business Insider about his three stints at Microsoft, his learnings on the job, the financial impact of being laid off and more. Getting laid off from MicrosoftWhen Joe Friend began hearing rumours that Microsoft was going to carry out layoffs that would affect managers, he wasn’t overly bothered. Friend, a director of product management overseeing a team of nine, did not think his role was in jeopardy. However, in May, he was informed that he was being let go. Friend’s job was terminated along with 14 other employees of his working group, including four managers. “I wasn’t entirely surprised the layoffs. I was surprised to get caught up in them,” said the 62-year-old, who lives in Washington state. Double shock for Microsoft veteranFor Friend, getting laid off was “doubly shocking” because he was forced to change his whole retirement strategy. The 62-year-old had planned to continue working till his 65th birthday. According to Microsoft policy, employees who reach their 65th birthday may have their unvested stock grants continue to vest, even if they leave the company. This rule allows employees who reach retirement age to access the equity they earned over their career, even if they choose to retire or are laid off. “My plan was to figure out what I wanted to do over the next three years,” he said. “Then all of a sudden I’m at the doorstep, and I have to make that decision now.” 20 years at MicrosoftFriend first joined Microsoft 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 — fulfilling his long-time wish to live abroad and do meaningful work. 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 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 len — and was impressed 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. “Feels like betrayal”After his layoff, Friend continued to receive paychecks until mid-July, when he was given a “very comfortable” lump-sum severance payment. It was nearly equal to what he would have earned if he had worked through the rest of the year. He considers himself lucky to be in a strong financial position, which gives him time to plan his next steps. But whatever his next steps may be, they will not include another Big Tech job. “It feels like a betrayal, and it impacts me financially, but it’s not going to hurt,” he told Business Insider about his layoff. What he is also certain of is that his next job will not be at Microsoft. He said he believes the company has reneged on what was once an unspoken deal with employees: if they performed well, they would be rewarded financially and have jobs security. Friend believes that is no longer the case. “I think I’d rather earn $50,000 a year doing something I’m excited about,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I won’t jump back into a job, but it certainly won’t be Big Tech.”