A Microsoft software engineer in Hyderabad has turned to Reddit for help finding a new job after losing his position in the company's latest round of layoffs.
The employee said the comment made the situation harder because his financial responsibilities are much greater than his manager assumed.
India Today Tech has reached out to Microsoft for the same and will update the article once we get a reponse.
A screenshot of the Microsoft layoff post.
Employee says exit was listed as voluntary separationThe discussion also raised questions about whether the engineer had been terminated or had resigned from Microsoft.
A Microsoft software engineer in Hyderabad has turned to Reddit for help finding a new job after losing his position in the company's latest round of layoffs. The employee, who has around three years of experience, said his manager told him during the layoff call that he was relatively young and was assumed to have fewer responsibilities.
The employee said the comment made the situation harder because his financial responsibilities are much greater than his manager assumed. He said he is the sole earning member of his family and supports his parents, helps pay for his sister's education and is also taking care of a loan taken by his father.
The Reddit post was shared around five hours before this report was written and has received more than 900 upvotes and over 200 comments. India Today Tech has reached out to Microsoft for the same and will update the article once we get a reponse. A screenshot of the Microsoft layoff post.
The engineer later clarified that he does not believe his age was the actual reason for the layoff. Responding to a user who questioned his manager's comment, he said, “Basically this was part of mass layoff in my org but yeah manager said that to consolidate probably which is lame.”
The employee has around three years of experience in backend and full-stack engineering. He said he has recently been working extensively on Agentic AI projects and has also taken part in hackathons.
He is now looking for Software Engineer and SWE 2 roles and is open to jobs at big tech companies, startups and firms outside the technology sector. He is also willing to relocate. The engineer said he is open to freelance and contract work as well. He believes his experience allows him to take a project from the initial stage to completion independently, including projects involving backend, full-stack and AI development.
“If your team/company is hiring, you have a freelance project, or you know someone who might be, please DM me. Even a referral or lead would mean a lot right now,” he wrote.
Employee says exit was listed as voluntary separation
The discussion also raised questions about whether the engineer had been terminated or had resigned from Microsoft. He said his exit documents describe it as a “voluntary separation”, although he claimed employees did not really have a choice in the matter.
“It's not exactly termination on paper it's called voluntary separation on paper for their legal protection obv but yeah technically we don't have a choice apart from taking that and leaving,” he said.
Microsoft has carried out several rounds of job cuts in recent months. In July, the company announced plans to eliminate around 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1 percent of its global workforce. Xbox and commercial sales were among the units hit hardest, with Xbox alone losing around 1,600 employees.
Microsoft said at the time that the cuts were linked to changes in how work is done and said the roles being eliminated were not being directly replaced by AI. The company also acknowledged that AI can now automate some of the tasks employees handle every day.
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Published By: Ankita Garg Published On: Aug 22, 2026 17:22 IST
