‘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 put on about 200 tasks. The reaction has actually been silence.

” Not a squeak,” Duncan informed GeekWire. He’s attempted adjusting resumes for each and every duty, registering for task informs, connecting with peers, and inner recommendations. Absolutely nothing has actually functioned.

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

For many years, technology employees were informed there was an ability scarcity. Employers chased them. Yet in 2025, leaders that constructed their entire jobs on expanding head count and grasping business procedures are obtaining “slaughtered today in sensational numbers,” claimed Laura Close, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of Close Cohen, a work search and exec training company.

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

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

And in a market that “corresponds young people with technology 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 possessions.

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

A cooling down market

Allison Shrivastava, a financial expert with Undoubtedly, claimed it’s challenging for anybody attempting to obtain worked with– from new college grads to much more seasoned employees.

” If you have actually been attempting to obtain a work or modification tasks in a tech-related area, you’re possibly truly, truly having a hard time,” she claimed.

While joblessness generally continues to be reduced, the quantity of time that individuals stay out of work is enhancing, Shrivastava claimed.

Greater than 114,000 technology employees have actually been given up this year up until now, 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 optimal, however the cuts proceed.

Seattle-area technology titans Microsoft and Amazon have actually introduced significant labor force decreases in 2025. Both business are spending greatly in AI facilities while highlighting 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 likewise saw what he calls “underleveling”– elderly supervisor duties being published at reduced degrees than previously, supervisor placements supplied at what made use of to be private factor degrees.

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

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

Yet at the very same time, as The Wall Street Journal reported, lots of business are wagering that AI can assist them expand– without expanding head count.

‘ That am I?‘

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

” I consider this one of the most costly time of my life,” Duncan claimed. His oldest kid is a student in university, and his youngest begins following loss. He’s likewise 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 countless bucks well worth of unvested Microsoft shares.

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

Nancy Poznoff, an executive instructor at Close Cohen, claimed economic stress is worsening an id for lots of laid-off execs.

” They have actually been high entertainers their entire profession,” Poznoff claimed. “They have actually adhered to all the policies. They have actually done what they were intended to do. And currently they’re instantly having this id in addition to it, since a great deal of them have gone to their business for as long, they have this concern 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 afterwards you have actually obtained this vanity bomb,” she included. “It’s a truly bumpy ride.”

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

Angus Norton, a previous Microsoft and Amazon officer, just recently wrote concerning the toll of continuous discharges on those that stay.

” It develops a pecking order of concern. Every person ends up being a possible target. Every person understands somebody that was release regardless of excellent efficiency,” he composed. “The message is clear: nobody is secure.”