A long time employee of Microsoft, who is 62 years old, has expressed his frustrations after losing his job to the company after serving it for 20 years.
The relocation has brought forth a lot of debates concerning corporate fidelity, age related discrimination in the technological sector, and how even the elderly employees are not exempt in mass restructuring.
The Life Story of a Veteran Ended Rudely
Joe Friend, one of the over 20 years veteran at Microsoft, joined the tech giant in the 1990s.
He has worked in various roles over time and became a Director of Product Management where he manages a team of nine professionals.
He was to retire at the age of 65 and he had planned to have a stable job in a company that he had dedicated his whole career to.
Friend, however, made an unexpected career move in May 2025, when Microsoft notified Friend, as well as a few of his other long term employees, that their positions were no longer needed as the company underwent restructuring.
Although Friend was paid a respectable severance package and allowed to work several months more, the layoff, according to Friend, was very emotional as it was like a betrayal.
According to him, the abrupt move affected his short term retirement and economic independence plans.
I had never expected to have to begin all over again at this age in my life he said after giving all to one company over so many years.
The story was rapidly spreading on social media, and most industry participants showed sympathy and anger about how senior employees are being replaced by younger and cheaper talent, or by artificial intelligence based talent, more often.
It is a big transformation year at Microsoft, as many other technological giants, as the company, have been working on artificial intelligence (AI) implementation and cost efficiency optimization.
The business has already invested in AI dfffffyyggdriven applications like Copilot, Azure AI, and Windows AI and this has resulted in restructuring of the company in terms of departments.
The industry players themselves remark that although this transformation is in line with the technology needs of the future, it has cost the industry and especially the older employees who have worked decades to create a foundation of the company.
The layoffs are considered to be in a bigger trend in the Silicon Valley where innovation and efficiency are valued more than loyalties and years of experience.
Friend now claims that he will step away with Big Tech and look into smaller business or consulting work in which his experience can still count.
He has also urged the other professionals to make sure they diversify their skills and meet the uncertainty challenge at any age although talent remains the same.
The event has brought the corporate responsibility topic back to the discussion table and the way organizations are supposed to manage their workforce transition, particularly of the older workforce that is on the verge of retiring.
Most people feel that long serving employees such as Joe should be not only compensated but also given honor and appreciation on their years of service.
At least, the story serves as a clear reminder that in the modern era of advanced technology, even 30 years of service are not necessarily considered safe anymore, and that getting used to change is more important than ever.
