UPDATE: Based on the volume of responses, here’s a quick list of what to do if you believe your severance was wrongfully denied: • File a complaint with WA State Labor & Industries • Appeal to Microsoft’s Severance Plan Administrator • You are not alone - this is happening to others with no documented performance issues (Full details and how to are in the comments below, or message me if you need help)

I was recently laid off from Microsoft after 5 years, and like others, I didn’t get severance. No formal LITE designation or performance plan, no misconduct. Just a “performance-based” termination, even though my most recent review was strong and I received a bonus last fall.

What I’ve learned since is that Microsoft is denying severance to anyone who’s ever had the LITE box checked, even if it was removed later and performance improved. It’s not about how you’re doing now. It’s whether they can point to something in your past and use that to save money.

If this happened to you (or someone you know), you can file a complaint with Washington State’s Labor & Industries department. They’re seeing more of these and are starting to notice the pattern.

Here’s how to file: 1. Go to: https://secure.lni.wa.gov/wagecomplaint/#/ 2. Select “Willful failure to pay agreed wages” and anything else that applies to your situation 3. Say you were denied severance despite recent solid performance 4. Estimate what you were owed (Microsoft gives 1 week per 6 months of service) 5. Attach docs like your termination letter, reviews, severance policy, or appeal (if you have them)

It’s free, takes 20–30 mins, and adds to the case. If enough of us speak up, they’ll have to respond.

Happy to answer questions in the comments or DMs.

After 18 years in the biz, I have a great 6 figure salary. I'm not laid off this moment. But I'm absolutely sick of seeing the anti worker movement in corporations. They take people's lives and free time - yet they are cutting severance now? Oh go fuck off, I gave damn near 20 years of my life - and this is the thanks for student loans and having a flawless record in a high demand sla environment? Suck it. I'm done. I'm so sick of being the enemy to our corporate overlords.

My husband was laid off this week after 25 years at Microsoft. He was randomly selected by an algorithm, despite no performance issues, no bad reviews, and a long record of exceptional work. His last day is May 16 — his 48th birthday.

He deals with Asperger’s and has multiple sclerosis. Despite these challenges, he has worked 60+ hour weeks for 25 years. He’s taken on-call shifts during holidays so teammates with kids didn’t have to. He’s won multiple Ship It Awards, solved bugs that saved millions, and mentored hundreds — from interns to execs.

He never asked for raises or promotions. Rarely called in sick. Never spoke a bad word about Microsoft, even when bonuses were cut or his quiet office with a window was swapped to the more distracting open plan layout with shared desks. A few months ago, he received his 25-year crystal award. Now he’s gone.

I know this subreddit includes current and former employees. You may not know him personally, but I guarantee some of you know his name — he’s that kind of engineer. He would never speak up about this himself. But I couldn’t let him disappear quietly.

I don’t expect a miracle. I just wanted someone to know the kind of person Microsoft let go.

I have served Microsoft for 13 years of my life, and due to my latest f*** manager and skip-level, I was let go. I had raised 3 tickets to HR for the past 2.5 years, 2 for Connect rebuttals and 1 for D&I for bias for being of a protected class. I did all that, before they let me go.

My questions:

• Did anyone who got laid off appeal to a lawyer and got severance?

• If so, would you mind sharing how it went and if successful, sharing the name of the lawyer/firm?

• Also interested to know if anyone got unemployment benefits, as I applied but nothing yet approved.

Thank you!

In 2023, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela made a notable statement on the company’s internal Yammer platform: “The most important lever for almost all our employees’ compensation upside is the stock price.” Below article looks into it.

Why Working at Microsoft May No Longer Be Worth It (2025)

This philosophy tied employees’ financial futures directly to Microsoft’s stock performance.
With negative one year returns, layoffs without severance is it worth to stay at microsoft.

I was laid off from Microsoft in May 2025 with my employment officially ending in July 2025. My severance clearly stated that I’m eligible for rehire.

However, it seems the FY’25 Rewards were published recently (managers finalize them by June 30), and my entry shows 0 rewards, likely because I was no longer part of the rewards cycle after being laid off. Now, a recruiter told me that because of this “0 Rewards” entry, I’m showing up as not eligible for rehire, and they had to revoke my verbal offer.

I’m trying to understand if this is a system or HR error, since:

• I had 100% rewards in FY’24,

• My severance letter explicitly says I’m eligible for rehire, and

• My termination was due to RIF, not performance.

EDIT: I’ve already opened a ticket with HR Assist and reached out to my former manager (no response yet).
Any advice on what else I can do to escalate or fix this?

UPDATE: HR Assist confirmed that I’m eligible for rehire and for FY’25 rewards. They also corrected the eligibility status on my profile (I received a screenshot). The recruiter verified that they can now see my eligibility but said the offer had already expired.

However, they still haven’t provided any details on how my status was changed or who updated it, despite my repeated requests and citing my right to full disclosure of all records related to my employment.

Does anyone has any recommendations for employment lawyers?

I saw a rumor online that layoffs were starting May 12th for middle managers and May 13th for ICs. Anyone have any insight?

Update: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/microsoft-is-cutting-3percent-of-workers-across-the-software-company.html

So sorry to those impacted today. I was hoping these rumors weren’t true.

3% of worldwide - about 6,000 people

workforcehttps://www.geekwire.com/2025/microsoft-cuts-nearly-3-of-global-workforce-about-6000-jobs-in-latest-push-for-efficiency/

According to news - " The decision to relive Bogdan of his duties came in the wake of Human Resources (HR) adopting the hub and spoke model for L&D a strategy had fervently advocated for 😖".... So the stuff he was creatio basically eliminated him... Don't know to laugh 😂 or cry 😭

I was laid off 5 days before the month ended. Then laid off with nothing. Benefits covered next 5 days. I don’t mind being laid off if I have a cushion of money for a few months.

Every article about the layoffs seems to detail the same thing: https://insider-gaming.com/microsoft-new-round-of-layoffs/

• Actual count not published

• Seems to target PMs

• Linked posts suggest they were PMs in non-core mission stuff?

• Not focused in any one geographic area

As a MSFT PM hopeful, this news wasn't fantastic.

What's the sentiment in MSFT? Does it feel like the cutting is slowing?

Serious question, to expand my knowledge base. How does big companies handle the volume of laying off so many? One email fits all ?

Correction:1900 not 1500

When Satya Nadella became the CEO of microsoft, it was believed he will be different. He himself told in interviews about the importance of empathy. Where has the empathy suddenly disappeared?

https://deepseeks.medium.com/how-are-microsofts-january-2025-layoffs-different-for-the-worst-aa454f061315

Why is Microsoft behaving like service based companies who do not value their employees. It has labelled many good employees as low performers and then fired. How will this affect their careers?

Like 6,000+ others today (edit: 2,000 in Seattle area), I was unfortunately laid off by Microsoft.

Since many of us are located in the region, it’s a good time for mutual support. I know a few other people in my org who were also laid off and are feeling quite lost.

It would be cool to have a group chat/space to help support each other, or for anyone who wants to vent.

If it doesn’t exist already, then we can always start one! Not sure what apps people prefer.

Hopefully we are all able to move on to much better things soon. Take care everyone!

edit: There are already some similar groups from past layoffs that others have added in the comments, along with some really good advice, so thanks everyone for those.

update for anyone else laid off:

If you would like help/support in a smaller group or need links to other groups, send me a DM and I’ll invite you to our very small discord server.

TLDR - I got fired instead of laid off. big tech is the devil.

Using a new account as I don’t want to dox myself. I was fired by Microsoft last month, a week before bonuses were to be paid. My manager scheduled a call titled “rewards discussion” where I was expected to be told what percent bonus I’d be getting. I was on LITE (what MSFT calls PIP) the first half of the year but I was taken off this in my last review with stellar feedback where he told me (and documented) I’d accomplished everything asked of me including measurable impact. His manager had previously told me if I was able to get off of LITE I shouldn’t be worried about long term ramifications as it would demonstrate impact and commitment. So I was expecting I’d get maybe 60% of my bonus eligibility and figured there was a chance I might be laid off with severance given all the layoffs they continue to have. I had 26 years tenure with a company that was acquired by Microsoft in 2022, and per my employment contract this tenure would count for any severance calculations.

As it turned out not only was I not getting bonus but he told me in this rewards discussion that I was being let go and also would receive no severance, and I am banned from working for Microsoft for 2 years. Totally blindsided me and my access was cut off immediately so I didn’t even have the chance to contact colleagues I’d worked with for 26 years. He offered no further explanation. I was prepared for the potential of getting laid off, but not this. It’s at will employment so I’m not guaranteed anything and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do. I did have a subsequent call with HR that I pushed hard for (they initially ignored me) where they explained the reason I was fired and wasn’t being given any bonus or severance was because my manager gave me a 0 for annual rewards indicating I’d had no impact. After spending the last 6 months killing myself to demonstrate the impact necessary to get off of LITE I feel totally betrayed. I am sure my management team did this in order to repurpose my budget for others on the team as I do think the feedback in my last evaluation was representative of my contribution.

I can’t understand why they would take me off LITE and give me positive feedback only to turn around and give me a 0. I also can’t understand how a single poor rewards score from a manager I’ve worked for under a year warrants no severance after 26 years of service. I am the sole provider for my family, have a kid in college and a mortgage, and as we were acquired it’s not like I have a ton of money in the bank from years of working at Microsoft. It will obviously take me some time to find a new job where I’ll have to start all over, and given the current job market who knows when that might be.

I can understand why people snap. They essentially lied to me, blindsided me, and left me hung out to dry. As far as I’m concerned they stole from me, their “valued” employee. It’s completely inhumane and unethical, and totally against their stated values. I have gone from respecting Satya Nadella and Amy Hood to seeing them as the embodiment of the devil himself. I would understand if they decided I wasn’t a good fit for the team and let me go with a bonus indicative of my impact and severance in-line with my tenure, but this is straight up evil and assuming many others have received the same treatment likely they are skirting having to report even more layoffs than they already have.