I talked to 7 laid-off Microsoft workers and learned a lesson they want all white-collar workers to know

"After 31 years at Microsoft, Mike Kostersitz never saw it coming. In May, his team met with a senior leader about a new product. "Everybody was happy with the progress," said Kostersitz, then a principal product manager lead working on Microsoft's cloud computing platform Azure. "Everything was peachy." The following morning, he noticed a high-priority virtual meeting had been added to his calendar - and it wasn't good news."

""Me and 120 other anonymous faces got told our jobs had been eliminated," said the Washington-based 60-year-old. His manager and two of his direct reports were also among the 6,000 employees affected. In July, roughly 9,000 more were laid off. Previously, in January and February, Microsoft had made nearly 2,000 performance-based cuts."

"A Microsoft spokesperson has said that most of this year's cuts were not performance-based but were intended to reduce management layers and streamline operations. Along with Amazon, Meta, and Google, Microsoft is one of many companies - from Silicon Valley to corporate America - that are fueling the Great Flattening."

Microsoft cut thousands of employees across multiple rounds this year, including about 6,000 in one round, roughly 9,000 in July, and nearly 2,000 earlier performance-based departures. Company statements say most cuts aimed to reduce management layers and streamline operations. The layoffs occurred amid heightened performance scrutiny after leadership worried the organization had become soft, shifting away from a once-noted "country club" culture. Affected workers spanned tenures from a few years to more than three decades; many reported being caught off guard, lacking documented performance issues, and experiencing shattered job security. Microsoft ranks among major tech firms contributing to a broader "Great Flattening."

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