"Amazon was part of my daily life for 11.5 years, and suddenly it was gone. There's no right way or easy way to do layoffs. I watched my team members get laid off in 2023, and I know how difficult it is. Still, when I received an email in the middle of the night in October of 2025 saying I'd been laid off from my senior software development manager position, I was shocked."
"Watching my teenage daughter navigate her own difficult situation taught me the biggest lesson in how to move forward well. Now I'm applying to jobs and working on upskilling in AI so I can be proactive, not reactive, to the tech industry. Only time will tell if this layoff is a blessing in disguise, but for now it has led to a refreshing change."
Hemant Virmani, a 47-year-old tech professional in Washington, was laid off from Amazon in October 2025 after 11.5 years. He had witnessed layoffs on his team in 2023 and was shocked by a late-night notification of his senior software development manager layoff. He is applying to engineering roles, learning new AI skills, and exercising to stay productive. He received supportive meetings with his current manager and a former manager who checked in. His teenage daughter inspired him to remain positive and focus on the future. He describes the change as possibly a blessing and refreshingly different.
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]