Phil Coachman enjoyed a long tenure at Microsoft but left after culture shifts and repeated layoffs reduced morale. He began searching for new roles in July 2024 while still employed and resigned in January to focus on his job hunt. Microsoft eliminated about 10,000 roles in 2023, cut roughly 6,000 jobs in May and about 9,000 in July, affecting many individual contributors. The company said it aimed to reduce management layers and streamline processes. Other firms, including Google, Intel, Amazon, and Walmart, are also reducing managers in a trend called the "Great Flattening," while slower white-collar hiring has made job transitions harder for affected tech workers.
Phil Coachman loved working at Microsoft for most of his nearly decadelongtenure. But as the culture began to shift and layoffs piled up, he decided it was time to move on. He started looking for a new role in July 2024when he was still at Microsoft, but struggled to get much traction. In January, he resigned from his role as a senior cloud solution architect to focus on his job search.
Coachman is among the current and former Microsoft employees who have been affected by workforce reductions - either by losing a job or being left to adjust to coworker departures. After cutting about 6,000 jobs in May, the company laid off roughly 9,000 more in July. A Microsoft spokesperson previously told Business Insider that the company was focused on reducing management layers and streamlining processes. The cuts have also included many individual contributor roles.
Microsoft isn't alone. Google, Intel, Amazon, and Walmart are among the companies that have also announced plans to reduce the number of managers in a trend dubbed the "Great Flattening." Layoffs remain low by historical standards, but tech workers have been hit hard - just as white-collar hiring has slowed. That's made it more difficult for workers like Coachman to switch jobs - or find new ones after they resign or are laid off.
Collection
[
|
...
]