A layoff, a family's reliance, and a manager's words
A Hyderabad-based software engineer at Microsoft has shared his experience of being laid off, claiming that his manager described him as "relatively young" and assumed he did not have "major responsibilities yet." The engineer, who said he has around three years of experience, posted on Reddit under the title "Got laid off from Microsoft yesterday with 3 YOE - Need guidance," according to Hindustan Times and Livemint.
In the post, the engineer said most of his team was affected in the latest round of layoffs and that he was among those let go. Recalling his conversation with his manager, he wrote that the manager said 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 engineer 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. Livemint noted that the claim "has nevertheless prompted discussion online about how employees may be perceived when companies make decisions during workforce reductions."
The engineer said the assumption that he had fewer responsibilities did not reflect his circumstances at home. "I'm the sole earner in my family, support my parents, help fund my sister's education, and am also taking care of a loan my dad had taken," he wrote, as quoted by both Hindustan Times and Livemint.
A personal crisis within a corporate decision
The human impact of the layoff is a central theme in the coverage. Indiatimes framed the story as one where a corporate decision turned into a personal crisis, noting that the engineer was the sole earning member of his household. His income was helping support his parents, contribute towards his sister's education, and repay a family loan. As Indiatimes put it, "For a person in that position, the loss of a salary is not simply the loss of one monthly payment; it can affect several plans at the same time."
Indiatimes also set the layoff in the context of Microsoft's broader strategy, reporting that the company is "reshaping its workforce to focus on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and technology-led productivity." This context is absent from the other two outlets' reports, which focus more narrowly on the engineer's account and the subsequent online discussion.
Seeking the next opportunity
Following the layoff, the engineer said he was actively looking for a new opportunity and appealed for referrals and leads. He described his experience in detail: "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 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.
Online reactions: from outrage to a broader debate
The engineer's post drew a range of responses on Reddit, as reported by Hindustan Times and Livemint. Some users questioned the reasoning behind the layoff, with comments like "This is discriminatory" and "super absurd." Others expressed frustration with the industry: "Software jobs have turned musical chair game now," one user remarked, while another said, "There is no point working for FAANG, choose mid tier IT company and live a peaceful life."
A user who commented on the broader pattern of layoffs wrote: "I've heard many times that layoffs are just based on some excel sheet exercise and nothing else, employees are just numbers for them. Grinding DSAs and doing what not to get into these tech giants which throws you off the bus any moment, it sucks tbh. There was a time when these companies were aspired by many but now they lost their credibility, it's just a name to flex nothing else, sometimes it feels better to work in mid scale company, earn less and stay safer than these."
Livemint also noted a more measured perspective from a user who described priority-based layoffs in Germany: "While firing just based on assumption is wrong, it is pretty common practice in a lot of countries to have a priority based lay off. For example, in Germany, a single person will be lower in the priority list compared to a married person who will be lower than a married person with kids. People with disabilities are also given consideration. All in all, a normal single person will be the first to be laid off."
The engineer's case highlights the disconnect that can exist between the way layoffs are often explained—in terms of teams, roles, and efficiency—and the way they are experienced by individuals, as Indiatimes observed. While the manager's comment about the engineer's age has drawn the most attention, the engineer himself has suggested it may not have been the real reason. For now, he is focused on finding his next role.