"The day before Amazon announced layoffs in October, there were rumors that something big was coming. I had a strange feeling in my gut that I might be affected, even though I felt I was performing well and had met my goals earlier than expected. I'd been laid off from my previous tech job the year prior, in 2024, and I knew how, in situations like these, people can quickly become just numbers on a spreadsheet."
"It was hard to sleep that night, and the next morning, I woke up to a 6 a.m. automated text from Amazon telling me to check my email for a message about my role. At that moment, I was pretty sure I had been laid off, which the message soon confirmed. The first person I told was my husband, who was next to me in bed."
Iren Azra Zou, 27, of New Jersey, is a founding engineer at startup Double Nickel and was a software engineer at Amazon until being laid off in October 2025. The day before the cuts she sensed potential layoffs and had trouble sleeping. She received a 6 a.m. automated text confirming the layoff and told her husband immediately. She had been laid off in 2024 previously and understood how quickly employees can become numbers on a spreadsheet. She reached out to coworkers and was shocked that top performers were also let go. Being emotionally and financially prepared helped her secure a new job within two weeks and offer advice to other laid-off tech workers.
Read at Business Insider
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