Laid Off After 18 Years at Microsoft – The Harsh Reality

Never get comfortable at any company. No one is irreplaceable. In this video, we're going to go in and we talk about a situation that happened to a developer at Microsoft that recently got laid off.

And we're just going to go in and discuss why does this happen even after you are a great developer. Let's get into it. All right, guys.

You already know it's your boy Joe back at it again. Codingface. com.

Your boy's back and I done did it again one more time. So, yeah, I was going through Twitter, right? I saw this situation and I wanted to talk to you guys about it.

So, shout out to Sharia, right? Uh she basically tweeted about this. This is one of the most uh one of the developers who made Typescript 10 times faster and he just got laid off by Microsoft.

There will be countless of stories like his of engineers who went above and beyond and ship game-changing features, improve dev experience for millions and still found themselves without a job. This week at Microsoft, they laid off 6,000 employees, roughly 3% in his global force. Not because they underperformed, not because they didn't deliver, but because AI just got good enough to justify replacing thousands overnight.

Okay. Now, this is a take that she says is the reason, and I don't believe is really AI, right? the reason that people uh got laid off.

Okay, there's a lot of people that have been hired in these companies in the pandemic and at the end of the day, guess what? Business is not making as much money as they used to, right? Also too, you know, they hire people that maybe, you know, they need at the time, but guess what?

At some point they don't need. Now at you know this situation right for this guy I don't believe that that's his case right so let's look at his tweet so Ron Buckton says after 18 years at Microsoft with roughly a decade of that time working on Typescript I have uh fortunately been let go in the latest round of layoffs I need to take a few days to process before I start looking for work thanks to everyone who's been part of my journey so far okay I'm pretty sure this guy is going to find a really good position after this, right? He has a lot of experience.

He was part of the main team that helped Typescript become what it is, right? Um, if I'm not mistaken, he did put in around like 10 years into this. Uh, you know, again, it's a great programming language, right?

Which is Typescript. Everybody uses it. The whole world uses it right right now.

And you would think like Microsoft would appreciate that and would say, "Man, we got to keep this guy. " But the truth is that again a lot of these companies you have to understand business is business okay when you are at a company and again I don't want to say that this is his situation when you are at a company and you are a developer guess what you cost a lot of money believe it or not and sometimes the work that you do for that company can help that company grow can help them make millions if not billions of dollars but at the end of of the day. If they could find a replacement for you at a cheaper price, they will do it.

All right? That's just facts. That's business.

Developers cost a lot of money. Okay? Sometimes, you know, you see people that start with 80, $90,000.

That's just starting. A lot of times they go to work at a company for, let's say, two, three years, they're making 200,000, sometimes even more. So imagine how much this guy was making after 18 years at Microsoft.

So a company goes in and says, "Well, do we continue to go in and fund this individual, right, and say, hey, he continues to work for Microsoft, or do we say, he did his his job, um he did the work that he needed to do, and now I think we're ready to move on and maybe get somebody for cheaper. " It could be somebody in India, could be somebody in Nigeria, it could be somebody in Colombia, Dominican Republic, somewhere else, right? Um, it's cheaper to hire somebody who has less experience and can maybe do the same amount of work as somebody that has been around for 10, 15 years because remember, every year you make more money in a sense, especially at these companies.

So, let's say, I don't know his situation, but let's say he's making half a million dollars. Let's say he's making maybe $800. I mean, I hoped that he was making like 800,000 after 18 years at Microsoft, right?

He could have probably jump ship and worked at other companies a long time ago, but he was loyal to this company. Um, you would think that they will appreciate the work that he did, but it's just business to a lot of these companies. And you got to always think about this, okay?

So, when you work at these companies, especially in corporate, understand the more years that you have at a company, the more money they got to pay you. more experience that you have, the more money they're going to pay you. And it reaches a point where if they haven't seen your growth, right, going to the next level.

Again, I don't want to say that this is his situation because I don't know, but a lot of times this is what happens if there's not enough growth or pretty much, you know, they start thinking about what can this person do for us? Not what he did, but what can he do now and in the future? And if they see like the value that they have to pay this individual, they're like, "We could finally get rid of this guy, right?

That's just how they think. This is not how I would do it, right? But it is business.

" This is why I always tell you guys when you go to these companies, learn everything that you need to learn, right? It's very rare that I hear a story of developers retiring at a company that they started at. That's just not the norm, right?

What happens is you go and work at a company, four or five years, then you jump ship to the next one. Um, you go in work 10 years at a company, you jump ship or you go to the next one, right? Or you get the boot.

Okay, that's just the fact, especially when you don't go up the the corporate ladder. So, in here, I'm going to give you guys a good example, right? And we're using Chad GBT to make it easier for you guys, right?

But here's the the corporate ladder for a developer, right? You have the lowest level which is a intern. Okay, this is somebody straight out of college, maybe still going to college and they become an intern at a company.

From there is a junior developer which is one to two years of experience. From there you have mid-level developers where you have two to five years. Uh senior level developers five to eight years.

Okay. Then from there we go into staff engineers, tech lead, right? 8 to 10 years as a developer.

Then you have principal engineer. Okay. a distinguished engineer, right?

I'm pretty sure this is where he was at. 15 to 20 years, right? A fellow, right?

Or architect. This is his range where I'm pretty sure that's where he was at. But guess what?

If you don't continue to grow to the next stage, right? Again, I'm not saying this is his situation, but this is what happens a lot of times. Sometimes you work at a team or you work on a project that um you're in love with, right?

you love that company, you love the projects you're building and you're working in just that department and you think, "Hey man, I'm a developer. This is something that I'm bringing value to the company. I'm contributing and guess what?

I could do this for the rest of my life. " Guess what? That doesn't work in corporate.

Okay? In corporate, for you to actually go in and basically secure your job, you have to continue to grow over the years within that corporate system. if for whatever reason, right, and this happens a lot.

I see people that they get stuck on the senior level developer roles, right, or mid-level developer roles and they think like they could just chill there, right? I mean, me personally, if it was up to me, I would love to get paid $300,000 to do junior developer work, but that doesn't cut it in corporate, okay? You have to continue to grow.

If not, they give you the boot. It is what it is. The way how you actually go in and save yourself from actually getting the boot is literally going up the ladder.

If you don't go up the ladder and you reaches the the highest point, distinguished engineer, a fellow, right? Let's say now you got to jump into management. Let's say you don't want to do management.

Then guess what? At some point you will get the boot. Same thing if you are a senior level developer, but you're like, "Okay, I don't want to be a staff engineer, too much responsibility.

I don't want to go up this ladder. " Guess what? At that company, you're going to get the boo at some point.

Okay? So, this is the the final uh you know, stages of like, hey, I'm going to continue going up the ladder. You got engineering manager, you got senior engineer manager, you got director of engineering, you got VP of engineering, and then you got chief uh technology officer, CTO.

That's like the highest level of like a developer can reach. All right? And of course CEO if for you know whatever reason you actually get that opportunity which doesn't happen every day.

Okay. But if you get to that point shoot that's how you go in and you save yourself where no one can give you the boot. Okay.

No one is irreplaceable when it comes to companies and how they look at this. It's business. So I always tell you guys don't look at working at a company as a way for you to retire there.

A lot of times it's not going to happen. A lot of times you're going to get the boot and it's not even up to you. It's not even like you're a bad developer.

It's not uh something that you say, "Well, man, um I did something wrong. " You could do everything right, but you reach a point like I I give you a great example. Even for small businesses, you go in and you work at a company.

Let's say you're a full stack developer and you do 10 years at a small business. Now, let's say in those 10 years now they're paying you 150, 160. that small business might say, "You know what?

For the work that this individual does, we could actually hire somebody to do the same work for 80 and 90. " At that point, they're saving themselves, you know, $50 to $70,000 a year. And that's not including health benefits and everything else that comes with it.

Okay? So, yes, believe it or not, at some point, you have an expiration date. Nobody is irreplaceable.

Okay? I'm sorry that this happened to this guy. this guy seems like a a solid dude.

And I hate that that happens in the industry, but I saw that from a mile away. This is why when people look at me and they say, "Well, Joe, shoot. You work for like seven years.

Why didn't you continue working for companies? " There's an expiration date. Before I get the boot, I give the industry the boot and I start building my own businesses and, you know, learning other skills that help me grow as a developer independent.

Okay. Unfortunately, I don't see myself being a I don't know, a distinguished engineer, a fellow, a principal engineer, or even CTO for a company that's not mine. I don't think that's something that I wanted to do, period.

Right? And I'm pretty sure for for this individual individual, like he probably felt the same way. He's like, I don't know if I want to continue going up this ladder.

Right? Or maybe sometimes you might not even get those opportunities to go up the ladder because they like somebody else. And that's just how it is.

That's how life works, right? And you go in, you give 18 years of your life to a company and then they give you the boot. Okay?

So, just keep that in mind when you are working at a company. It doesn't matter if you've been there for 6 months, doesn't matter if you've been there for 10 years or 20 years. Always remember, everyone has an expiration date.

And before that expiration date hits, you should take control and try to jump ship and do your own thing. Okay? So anyways guys, by the way, if you're in here and you like this type of content, show me some love in the comment section.

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This is what we do. So definitely come check out codingface. com.

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Okay guys, it's your boy Joe back at it again. Codingface. com.

Take control of your life. Take control of your destiny, okay? Don't leave it to somebody else.

Always remember that. And before they give you the boot, you you go in and give them the boot. All right?

I'll see you guys later. Peace.