According to GeekWire, Jonathan Duncan applied to 200 jobs since his May layoff after more than 20 years at Microsoft with zero responses, while over 114,000 tech workers have been laid off this year alone. Microsoft and Amazon have both announced major 2025 workforce reductions while investing heavily in AI infrastructure, with senior roles now being posted at lower levels in what Duncan calls “underleveling.” Executive coach Laura Close says the “golden age of quick turnaround is over,” with high-value professionals taking 12-18 months to find work amid what she calls “ageism on steroids” that starts as early as 40. Indeed economist Allison Shrivastava confirms the struggle across all experience levels, while former executives face both financial crises and identity questions after losing hundreds of thousands in unvested stock.
Ageism meets efficiency
Here’s the thing that really stings about this situation. For years, these workers were told they were invaluable – that there was a massive talent shortage and recruiters would chase them forever. Now? Their decades of experience have somehow become liabilities instead of assets. Close isn’t mincing words when she calls this “ageism on steroids,” and she’s absolutely right that in tech, you’re basically ancient at 40.
But is it just ageism, or is something else happening? The market has fundamentally shifted from growth-at-all-costs to efficiency-above-all. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon are cutting travel budgets, training, and morale-building while demanding unspent funds returned every quarter. They’re betting that AI can drive growth without growing headcount. So where does that leave the senior managers and directors who built their entire careers on scaling organizations and managing people?
Financial crisis compounds
Duncan’s situation hits particularly hard because it’s happening during what should be his peak earning years. His kids are in college, retirement is on the horizon, and he just lost “the kids’ college funds” in unvested Microsoft stock. That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars vanishing overnight. And he’s not alone – many of these workers are facing the most expensive periods of their lives right when the paycheck stops.
Think about the timing here. These are people who followed all the rules, climbed the corporate ladder, and now face financial ruin because the game changed underneath them. They’re suddenly pricing out family insurance plans for the first time in decades while watching their professional identities crumble. It’s a perfect storm of financial pressure and what executive coach Nancy Poznoff perfectly describes as an “ego bomb.”
Brutal reality inside
What’s especially telling is that Duncan says he’s not sure he’d want to go back to Microsoft even if he could. Former exec Angus Norton writes about the “hierarchy of fear” that perpetual layoffs create – where everyone becomes a potential target regardless of performance. The message that “no one is safe” fundamentally changes workplace dynamics in ways that poison morale and trust.
And let’s be real – when companies like Layoffs.fyi are tracking nearly 265,000 tech layoffs in 2023 followed by another 153,000 in 2024, this isn’t just a temporary market correction. This is a structural shift in how tech companies operate. The days of endless growth and high-paying jobs for everyone might actually be drying up, just like Duncan suspects.
What comes next?
So where do these experienced professionals go? They can’t compete on price with recent graduates, and companies seem to value “innovation and stamina” (read: youth) over hard-won experience. The executive coaches at firms like Close Cohen are seeing clients completely reinvent themselves, but that takes time – 12 to 18 months in many cases.
Maybe some will find opportunities in industrial technology sectors where experience actually matters. Companies that rely on durable hardware and manufacturing systems often value seasoned professionals who understand complex operational challenges. In fields where reliability trumps chasing the next shiny object, there might be hope for veterans who know how to build things that last.
The brutal truth is that tech’s relationship with experience has fundamentally changed. What was once valued is now dismissed as outdated. What promised security delivered crisis. And hundreds of thousands of workers are learning that loyalty and expertise might be the most expensive liabilities of all.
