A former Microsoft employee’s emotional post about losing their job has gone viral. It offers a raw look into how sudden corporate decisions can destroy careers.
The ex-employee said they were proud to work for Microsoft until, without warning, the company sold their entire division to Cognizant. “It felt like we were treated like secondhand office chairs,” the employee wrote.
The shock didn’t end there. Once the sale happened, Microsoft pulled all work from the division. Cognizant, the new employer, didn’t provide a real transition plan. They made no effort to retain staff or assign them new roles. Instead, it was “a slow bleed until we were all laid off.”
The worker explained that the emotional impact was even harder than the financial loss. “They didn’t just kill the job. They killed the trust. The dignity. The belief that effort meant something,” they said. While still angry, they saw the layoff as a strange kind of freedom. It gave them the chance to create something new that couldn’t be sold off behind closed doors.
Many readers connected with the story. In the comments, other tech workers who faced layoffs shared their own advice. One encouraged laid-off employees to “branch out” to other industries, even if the pay is lower at first. Another mentioned that job security, good pay, and meaningful work rarely exist together today.
The former Microsoft employee also noted how hard it is to find new work right now, especially in the tech sector. They wondered if AI is quietly changing hiring patterns, making it tougher for humans to get noticed.
This story highlights a larger issue in the tech industry. Big companies are cutting costs by outsourcing or selling off entire teams, often without regard for the people involved. The wave of layoffs in recent years has left many skilled workers scrambling.
Despite the hardship, the ex-employee closed with a message of solidarity: “If you’ve been through something similar, I see you. You’re not the disposable one. They are.”