‘Rollercoaster of emotions,’ says Microsoft employee fired after 25 years of service

The year 2023 started off on a sombre note for many tech professionals as several major companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Salesforce, announced mass layoffs in an effort to cut costs. This wave of job cuts has left thousands of techies around the world without employment, and social media platforms are filled with stories of people sharing their layoff experiences. 

Ann Pfeiffer, who had been employed at Microsoft for more than 25 years, was one of the individuals who lost their job during the March layoffs. She took to LinkedIn to share her experience, expressing that employees often have little control over the timing or manner in which they say goodbye to an organisation. 

"25+ years with Microsoft have come to a close for me and I am #opentowork due to the March #layoffs. We are not always in charge of the time or how we choose to say goodbye to the amazing company that is Microsoft. The last weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions, reflecting on the past months that have had an impact on everyone in one way or another," Ann wrote in her LinkedIn post.

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Despite the sudden turn of events, Ann expressed her gratitude towards her former colleagues and cherished the adventures, challenges, partnerships, coaching, and learning that they had embarked upon together. She wrote, "My reason to sign-in every day was the culture, energy, and excitement and the people I have had the privilege to work with and for."

Ending her post on a positive note, Ann wrote, "Where one door closes, a window opens, and hopefully one day I will find myself working with some of you back at Microsoft or another company."

The layoffs at Microsoft were announced by the company's CEO, Satya Nadella, in an email to employees in January of this year. In his email, Nadella cited "macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities" as the reasons behind the job cuts. He elaborated that although certain roles are being eliminated, the company will still be actively hiring in crucial strategic areas.

Nadella also emphasized the importance of building a new computer platform with the use of artificial intelligence (AI), as organizations in various industries and geographies exercise caution due to global economic uncertainties.

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