‘Not a squeak’: Veteran tech workers face new reality amid layoffs and tough job market

Jonathan Duncan was given up from Microsoft in May after greater than twenty years at the technology titan. Ever since, he’s related to about 200 work. The reaction has actually been silence.

” Not a squeak,” Duncan informed GeekWire. He’s attempted adjusting resumes for every function, registering for work informs, connecting with peers, and interior references. Absolutely nothing has actually functioned.

He’s not the only one. Experienced technology specialists throughout the market are discovering they’re not immune to widespread layoffs— which locating a brand-new work isn’t as easy as it used to be.

For many years, technology employees were informed there was a skill lack. Employers chased them. However in 2025, leaders that developed their entire occupations on expanding head count and understanding business procedures are obtaining “slaughtered today in sensational numbers,” claimed Laura Close, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of Close Cohen, a work search and exec mentoring company.

Close claimed some “very high-value specialists” she collaborates with are taking 12-to-18 months to locate a brand-new work.

” The golden era of the fast turn-around mores than,” she claimed.

And in a sector that “corresponds young people with development and endurance,” Close claimed long time employees are locating that their previous success metrics are no more valued– years of knowledge have actually ended up being responsibilities, not properties.

” What we’re seeing today is ageism on steroids,” Close claimed. She kept in mind that in technology, age-related predisposition frequently starts as very early as 40– earlier than numerous think.

A cooling down market

Allison Shrivastava, a financial expert with Without a doubt, claimed it’s hard for any individual attempting to obtain employed– from new college grads to much more seasoned employees.

” If you have actually been attempting to obtain a work or adjustment work in a tech-related area, you’re possibly actually, actually battling,” she claimed.

While joblessness generally stays reduced, the quantity of time that individuals continue to be jobless is boosting, Shrivastava claimed.

Greater than 114,000 technology employees have actually been given up this year thus far, contrasted to almost 153,000 employees in 2024 and almost 265,000 in 2023, according toLayoffs.fyi The speed has actually reduced from 2023’s height, yet the cuts proceed.

Seattle-area technology titans Microsoft and Amazon have actually introduced significant labor force decreases in 2025. Both firms are spending greatly in AI facilities while stressing performance.

As an elderly supervisor at Microsoft, Duncan claimed budget plans were just recently reduced throughout the board– training, traveling, morale-building. When individuals left, they weren’t changed. Every quarter brought brand-new needs to return unspent funds.

He additionally observed what he calls “underleveling”– elderly supervisor functions being uploaded at reduced degrees than in the past, supervisor settings used at what utilized to be specific factor degrees.

” I assume the days of high-paying technology work are running out,” he claimed.

Shrivastava claimed the present discharges are likely a “losing” from a substantial over-hire throughout the post-pandemic technology boom, not always an AI restructuring tale.

However at the very same time, as The Wall Street Journal reported, numerous firms are wagering that AI can aid them expand– without expanding head count.

‘ That am I?‘

For a number of these employees, the timing could not be even worse with maturing moms and dads, children heading to university, and retired life coming up.

” I consider this one of the most costly time of my life,” Duncan claimed. His oldest boy is a student in university, and his youngest begins following autumn. He’s additionally evaluating household prepare for insurance policy for the very first time.

And Afterwards there’s the supply payment. When Duncan was given up, he had thousands of hundreds of bucks well worth of unvested Microsoft shares.

” That was the children’ university funds,” he claimed.

Nancy Poznoff, an executive trainer at Close Cohen, claimed economic stress is intensifying an id for numerous laid-off execs.

” They have actually been high entertainers their entire job,” Poznoff claimed. “They have actually complied with all the regulations. They have actually done what they were intended to do. And currently they’re all of a sudden having this id in addition to it, since a great deal of them have gone to their firm for as long, they have this worry around, ‘Just how do I run when I’m not at Amazon?’ Like, ‘That am I?'”

” So you have actually obtained this economic stress, and after that you have actually obtained this vanity bomb,” she included. “It’s an actually difficult time.”

Duncan still talks with his previous colleagues at Microsoft. The anxiety inside, he claims, is harsh. He’s uncertain he would certainly intend to return– also if he could.

Angus Norton, a previous Microsoft and Amazon director, just recently wrote concerning the toll of continuous discharges on those that continue to be.

” It develops a power structure of worry. Everybody comes to be a possible target. Everybody recognizes a person that was release regardless of outstanding efficiency,” he created. “The message is clear: nobody is risk-free.”