Day: October 25, 2025

• Joe Friend spent more than two decades at Microsoft across three separate stints.
• He was laid off from his manager role in May — a job loss that upended his retirement plans.
• Friend shared why he won’t return to Microsoft and plans to steer clear of Big Tech altogether.

After three stints at Microsoft spanning more than two decades, Joe Friend was laid off in May. He’s still figuring out what’s next, but there’s one thing he’s sure of: His time in Big Tech is over.

About six months earlier, Friend, a director of product management overseeing a team of nine, started hearing rumors of company restructuring that could affect managers. However, he didn’t believe his specific role was in jeopardy.

But he was wrong. In May, he learned that he and 14 other members of his working group — including four other managers — had been laid off.

“I wasn’t entirely surprised by the layoffs. I was surprised to get caught up in them,” said the 62-year-old, who lives in Washington state.

Friend said the layoff was “doubly shocking” because it upended his retirement strategy. He had planned to stay at Microsoft until at least his 65th birthday — a milestone that, under company policy, allows most stock grants to continue vesting even after the employee leaves. Once he turned 65, he planned to either retire or pivot to something new. Now, that timeline was out the window.

“My plan was to figure out what I wanted to do over the next three years,” he said. “Then all of a sudden I’m at the doorstep, and I have to make that decision now.”

Friend is among the thousands of Microsoft workers who’ve been laid off over the past year. After cutting about 6,000 jobs in May, Microsoft laid off roughly 9,000 more in July. A company spokesperson previously told Business Insider the company was focused on reducing management layers and streamlining processes.

Google, Intel, and Amazon have also announced plans to reduce the number of managers — part of a broader trend dubbed the “Great Flattening.” While overall layoffs remain low by historical standards, tech workers have been disproportionately affected, and a slowdown in white-collar hiring has made it harder for many to land new roles.

In this challenging environment, Friend shared what he’s hoping to find in the next chapter of his career.

A final goodbye to Microsoft

Transitioning away from Microsoft was something Friend had done twice, but this was the first time he hadn’t left by choice.

Friend first joined Microsoft in 1994 as a lead program manager, working on Microsoft Word. In 1997, he and his family moved to Indonesia, where he spent more than six years working for an international NGO — a move driven by his long-held desire to live abroad and do work he found meaningful.

In 2003, when Friend returned to the States, he initially considered staying in the nonprofit world but found it less economically viable in the US. So he reentered the tech industry and found himself back at Microsoft.

Friend spent the next 14 years at the company, but by early 2017, he was feeling burned out and decided to move on. He said he interviewed at a few large firms but soon concluded that none of them were the right fit.

“I finally realized that I didn’t want to work at another big company,” he said.

He accepted a role at the developer site Stack Overflow, a move he said provided the change of pace he was looking for. But Microsoft came calling once again.

Someone Friend knew at Microsoft kept nudging him to join their team. Initially resistant, he eventually agreed to hear them out — and saw the recent internal restructuring in his former business area as a positive sign.

“I was really impressed with what I saw as significant cultural change at the company and agreed to go back,” he said.

Friend returned to Microsoft in 2018 and remained until May 2025, when he learned he’d been laid off.

Purpose over profit

After being laid off, Friend continued receiving paychecks until mid-July, when he received a “very comfortable” lump-sum severance payment that amounted to close to what he would have made if he had been employed the rest of this year. He said he was fortunate to be in a strong financial position, which gave him time to figure out his next steps.

“It feels like a betrayal, and it impacts me financially, but it’s not going to hurt,” he said of the layoff.

Rather than rushing into his next move, Friend met with a financial advisor to see whether an earlier retirement might be feasible. He began exploring job leads that came his way, but nothing stuck.

Friend now considers himself to be “semi-retired.” He said that in recent months, he’s focused on helping a young entrepreneur build a small business.

“It’s not about making money,” he said. “It’s about supporting somebody who wants to transform their life.”

If Friend were to retire fully, he believes he and his wife can make it work financially without major lifestyle changes, but he’s not sure he’s ready to leave the workforce yet.

What he is sure of is that his next job won’t be with Microsoft. He said he believes the company once had an implicit “deal” with employees: If you performed well, you’d be rewarded financially and enjoy job stability. He said he no longer thinks that’s true.

Friend said some of his concerns apply to the tech industry more broadly, which is why he plans to be highly selective about his next role.

“I think I’d rather earn $50,000 a year doing something I’m excited about,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I won’t jump back into a job, but it certainly won’t be Big Tech.”

• Former magazine editors Lauren Brown and Kristina O’Neill wrote a book on coping with job loss.
• It features insights from celebrities and career experts, with a focus on women’s experiences.
• The authors share four tips for securing a better severance package, saving money, and moving on.

Losing your job doesn’t mean you suck.

That’s the message the co-authors of a new book — and the celebrities who contributed to it, such as Oprah Winfrey and Lisa Kudrow — are aiming to get across.

“All the Cool Girls Get Fired,” by former fashion magazine editors Lauren Brown and Kristina O’Neill, is a survival guide for anyone who has been let go from a job, though it’s especially geared toward women.

They said that’s because there are more widely known examples of high-profile men who’ve been fired, such as Steve Jobs and Michael Bloomberg.

“It took us a minute to even figure out which women’s stories to include in the book,” said O’Neill. “It’s not part of that many women’s lore, getting fired.”

Brown lost her editor-in-chief job at InStyle magazine in February 2022 when the fashion publication went all-digital, while O’Neill was let go from WSJ. Magazine in April 2023 as part of a restructuring at The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to famous people’s accounts of dealing with job loss, Brown and O’Neill offer insights in their book from human resources, legal, and other career-related experts for moving on. They shared four tips with Business Insider on what to do after being let go:

Don’t sign anything, just decompress.

When executing layoffs, employers will typically ask the workers they’re letting go to quickly sign severance or other termination documents. There’s no need to comply right away, and it’s best you don’t, since getting the boot is a jarring experience, said O’Neill.

“You might be in shock,” she said.

Take time to process what’s happening, then review the materials you’ve been asked to sign, added O’Neill. You may want to negotiate for extended healthcare coverage or the option to keep your work phone.

“You’re actually the one in control,” she said. “Because what are they going to do? Fire you? They already fired you.”

Hire a lawyer who only gets paid if you win.

People tend to be too vulnerable after a layoff to do a good job of negotiating a better parting package for themselves, said Brown. She recommends getting expert help.

“The lawyer is your fighter, sword and shield,” she said. “They write the tough emails for you when you can’t.”

You don’t need to spend money up front on legal representation, as many attorneys work on contingency, noted Brown.

“You really have nothing to lose,” she said.

Regain control with spending hacks.

No longer having a steady income can cause anxiety. To regain a sense of financial security while job searching, look for small ways to trim your expenses, such as bringing cash to the grocery store instead of using a credit card.

“It makes you mindful of what you spend,” said O’Neill.

Use your new abundance of free time to negotiate lower fees for recurring expenses like internet service, and to reassess whether any monthly bills can be eliminated altogether, added Brown.

Also, take advantage of your lighter schedule to see every health-care provider you normally visit annually before your insurance runs out, said O’Neill. Likewise, if you’ve been putting off a medical concern, now is the time to get it checked out.

“Go on a doctor tour as fast as possible,” she said.

Lift your periscope.

Not only is there nothing wrong with asking people in your network for support after a layoff, it’s also a smart way to move forward, the authors said.

“Fall on your face for a week if you want, but then lift your periscope,” said Brown. “Ask for help. Women especially carry shame about being fired, but people will help if you ask.”

That’s especially true today, she continued, given that more people are looking for work than there are open jobs.

“There’s more empathy,” said Brown. “Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people are going through this. You don’t have the exclusive.”

Meanwhile, remember that your value doesn’t disappear when your job does, added O’Neill. She pointed out that one of the experts she and Brown spoke to for “All the Cool Girls Get Fired” likened employees to library books.

“The company borrows you, but doesn’t own you,” she said. “The knowledge is yours.”

The writer of this article also previously worked at the Wall Street Journal.

• I didn’t realize how true the saying, “It takes a village,” was until I had kids.
• We don’t live near family, but I spent time intentionally building my village.
• While I have plenty of friends and people who come through for me, it’s not the same as family.

Almost as soon as I became pregnant with my first child, I started hearing a familiar refrain. “It takes a village,” co-workers and friends told me repeatedly. I had no idea what raising a child entailed, so I smiled and nodded in response, not realizing how much their words would ring true years later.

At the same time, my parents warned me that having children without family nearby would be difficult, that there was no substitute for family. Yet, my husband and I were confident we could raise our children in Washington, DC, where we had settled, even though we didn’t have family nearby. And, after all, we would have a village if we needed help, I reasoned.

I started building my village early on

Without meaning to, I started building my village before my daughter was born. Another expectant mom in my birth class invited me to join a group of pregnant women with similar due dates. Many moms in the group also lived far from their families, and we vowed to become each other’s support systems. We would cook each other meals after we each gave birth in turn and exchange babysitting once our babies were a little older. Friends without children vowed to be fun aunties who could step in to help.

After I had my daughter, the village came through. After birth, my daughter needed to stay in the NICU. Friends brought me food, support, and love. When my daughter was finally allowed to come home, we had a never-ending stream of visitors that continued for weeks. Friends held my baby so I could shower or drink a cup of tea while it was still hot. Later, they would keep me company on one of my many walks to her follow-up doctor’s appointments.

The village works, I told myself. We would be OK, even without family nearby.

My village got bigger as my children grew

I went on to have three more children, and my village grew. A group of moms I met at the playground formed a babysitting co-op. We cared for each other’s children as if they were our own, on a rotating schedule, for a few hours each week.

Once my children started elementary school, my circle expanded. Those of us who lived far from our families became each other’s emergency contacts. We pledged to drop anything for each other, and we meant it. Once, when I was sick for a few weeks, friends rushed over with food. They took my children for endless walks in the park so I could rest and recover.

I have a long list of people I can text to pick up my youngest child from school if I am running late or need backup for after-school care. There are at least a dozen friends I could call in the middle of the night if I needed help. Friends did not hesitate to offer to check on my husband when he was recovering from an injury, and I needed to go out of town for work.

I am lucky to have such a big village, but I still wish I had family nearby.

Even the best village isn’t the same as family

My village is solid and expansive. However, even the best village doesn’t have the strength of family. Some friends I once considered ride-or-die have faded from my life in a way family never would. Some moved away, and others I stopped seeing as much when our children stopped going to the same school. With others, we simply drifted apart in the natural ebb and flow of life. My village is not a constant presence in the same way that family would be.

Moreover, although my friends don’t keep score, I still hesitate to ask for favors in a way that I wouldn’t with family. I’m careful not to ask for too much help, too often. Yet, if I had family nearby, I would not hesitate to ask for more support. In many cases, family would offer to help without my saying a word.

There are things I would never ask of my village, either. For example, absent a dire emergency, asking friends to take on the heavy lift of staying with my kids overnight is something I would only ask of family.

Sometimes, I think about how nice it would have been to raise my kids near family, knowing we were surrounded by people who loved them almost as much as I do and would always be a part of their lives. People who would always be willing to help. My people. Although my village is fantastic, even though they often feel like family, it’s not the same and never will be.

• Kong CEO Augusto “Aghi” Marietti said the AI bubble could burst.
• He told Business Insider that energy needs may eventually slow down the capex frenzy.
• He said the AI infrastructure built now will be needed later, similar to the US railroad buildout.

The AI bubble might pop, but Kong CEO Augusto “Aghi” Marietti told Business Insider he thinks it’ll be worth it.

AI companies will ultimately need the massive infrastructure projects they’re now spending so much on to build, he said.

“We’re in this new builders era where it’s a very singular moment where we are going to probably deploy more capex and more capital for enabling the AI era, and we need it,” Marietti told Business Insider.

Marietti said that energy-related issues are likely to be the primary bottleneck that stunts AI growth. Business Insider has documented how AI companies are so desperate for power for their large data centers that some are building self-contained supplies.

“We don’t have the energy we need to power all the GPUs in the following year,” he said.

Wall Street, however, is concerned about the sustainability of the capex spending craze by leading AI startups and other Big Tech companies, which is generating all kinds of bubble talk. A Business Insider analysis found that Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google could spend an estimated $320 billion on capex, primarily for AI-related needs.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in August that he agrees AI could be in a bubble phase, echoing others who have warned that the spending cannot be sustained. Some economists say capex spending is so high right now that it is propping up the entire US economy.

Like Altman and others, Marietti compared the current spending to the building of railroads in the US in the 19th century. AI optimists argue that AI, like the railroads, will fundamentally transform the economy, and therefore, massive expenditures are needed to lay the groundwork for what’s to come.

“Some railroads were deployed ahead of time, but then all the railroads got used,” he said. “I think in AI, we’re just deploying ahead of time, and eventually something will blow up for a little bit, but we would eventually need the infrastructure that we’re deploying anyways.”

OpenAI President Greg Brockman has suggested that soon, every person will want their own GPU, a level of demand that would require massive expansion by his company and others.

Marietti said even “a down moment” won’t stop what’s coming down the tracks.

“After that, we’ll still use all the infrastructure that we build,” he said. “We still use the railroads that we deployed 150 years ago ahead of time.”

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

• Gabriel Filer had his heart set on moving to Australia, but felt weighed down by student debt.
• He lived with his parents and saved aggressively to clear over $90,000 worth of debt in four years.
• Now, Filer has his own place in Australia and earns more than he did in the US.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gabriel Filer, 34, who’s based in Sydney. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Do you have a story to share about leaving the US? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com.

When I was a kid, I’d look up at the sky and think about what life was like outside my hometown, Middletown, Connecticut.

As I grew older, I became interested in exploring other countries. In 2019, at the age of 28, I visited Australia and fell in love with it. During the pandemic, I thought about applying to move there once the borders reopened. Civil unrest in the US also drove me to seriously consider leaving the country.

Before moving to Australia, I wanted to pay off my student debt of over $90,000, build a six-month emergency fund, and cover my relocation expenses, such as the cost of my visa application.

I was disciplined about setting money aside, and paid off my debt in August 2023, less than four years after I started seriously saving, and almost a year before I moved.

It felt like a sacrifice, but living with my parents for 7.5 years is what made it possible.

I set aside money each month to pay off my debt balance

I graduated in 2013 with a degree in community, environment, and planning, then got my Master’s in city and regional planning in 2016. After grad school, at age 25, I moved back home.

I was very frugal growing up, and once I started working at age 26 in 2017, I paid money into a brokerage account. By the end of 2019, I had saved roughly $47,000, but it wasn’t enough to cover my loans of roughly $90,000. Between 2019 and 2024, my annual salary as an urban planner increased from around $40,000 to $65,000.

In January 2020, I began paying $1,000 a month from my paycheck toward my student debt, and from May, I put between $1,000 and $2,000 into my brokerage account.

Using that money, the interest it accrued, and some existing savings, I paid off $65,600 of my student loan in October 2021. The three-year student loan payment pause during the pandemic, when my loans didn’t accrue interest, felt like a golden window to pay off my debt. I also wasn’t really going out and spending money on petrol, and my parents didn’t charge me for rent or groceries.

This allowed me to save a lot from my monthly salary, which was roughly $3,400 between 2021 and 2023.

Each month, I used my Apple Notes app to write down and track all my expenses. When I paid a bill, I’d strike through that expense on the note.

In August 2023, I made a second payment to clear my balance before the student loan payment pause ended that September.

After paying off my debt, I saved over $38,000 to relocate and for emergencies

Once I got my debt under control, I focused on setting aside money for my visa fees and relocation. By April 2024, I had accumulated over $38,000 in short-term reserves to contribute to my emergency fund and relocation costs.

I hired an immigration lawyer to help me navigate applying for permanent residency in Australia. I’m don’t have great reading comprehension, so it was helpful to have a professional assist me with the complicated immigration process. I also joined a Facebook immigration support group, which provided me with a network of people who were also moving to Australia, and was helpful for information sharing about the process.

I volunteered virtually so I’d have professional references when I got to Australia

In April 2024, I moved to Sydney. I’d made contacts by volunteering virtually for an Australian nonprofit while I was in the US. That helped me gather professional references for my job search.

Within two months of being in the country, I got a job as a grants officer in the education sector. My salary is 113,575 AUD, roughly $73,700, which is more than I was earning in the US.

Initially, I rented an apartment for the equivalent of $1,645 per month, which felt much better value than what I could rent in a big American city.

In June 2025, I finalized the down payment on a unit. It’s nice to have my own place and be able to invite people over after years of living with my parents.

I prefer living in Australia compared to the US. People are very nice here, and going to the pharmacy doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The work-life balance here is unparalleled. When I finish work, I don’t feel guilty about leaving, whereas I always felt stressed in the US.

Moving to Australia was a dream come true. I had a feeling life would be better outside the US, I just needed the courage to step out of my comfort zone and go for it.

Do you have a story to share about leaving the US? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com.

• Isaac Stein, 31, has been working as a lawyer at the IRS for 3 years.
• He was recently furloughed as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.
• That’s given him more time to pursue a passion project: running a hot dog stand.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been sent home amid the government shutdown. One of them has been using his newfound free time to sell hot dogs.

“This is self-expression,” Isaac Stein, the 31-year-old owner of “Shyster’s Dogs,” told Business Insider at his hot dog stand in Washington, DC’s NoMa neighborhood. “This is me having artistic fun.”

Stein has a day job: He’s been working for three years as a lawyer at the Internal Revenue Service, where he handles tax regulations around employee benefits. But for the last three weeks, he’s been working as a full-time hot dog vendor on the corner of First and M Street NE.

The hot dog stand idea came to Stein months before the shutdown cleared his schedule. He said that he first made the decision to start the business in June, though it took months to obtain all of the necessary permits. Stein said he invested a “five-figure sum” into buying all of the equipment.

By the time he was ready to go, it was September. He had originally planned to operate the stand outside of work hours, on Thursday and Friday evenings and over the weekend. “To be real, Thursday was a bit ambitious,” Stein said. “It’s hard to function in the office without enough sleep, and I want to be good at my legal job.”

Then, on October 8, he was “furloughed” — essentially suspended from his job until the shutdown ends. That turned his side gig into a nearly full-time job, and he now typically sells hot dogs from noon to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Stein’s hot dog stand is laden with humor. The name “shyster,” a slang word referring to a deceptive or unethical lawyer,” is about wanting to “bring a laugh to the legal community,” he told Business Insider.

“Part of what I’m doing with my expression here is there are many layers of irony,” Stein said. “One of the layers is that I’m a lawyer, and I’m doing everything correctly. I have all the right permits, and I pay taxes.”

On his menu, he offers the “SHIRT OFF MY BACK” for $1,000. And the menu itself is fairly simple: if you order “The Only Choice,” you’ll get a hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut for $10. If you order “Hot Dog with the Wrong Toppings,” you can have other toppings, such as ketchup — but you’ll be charged more. That option costs $11.

“From a young age, I have wanted to punish people for putting ketchup on a hot dog. It’s utterly mystifying to me as to why someone would want this. But to be commercially viable, you have to have it,” Stein said. “The pricing difference is reflective of incentives: I want people to do it the right way.”

So far, Stein says his hobby has worked out well for him. He’s been serving 40 to 50 customers per day, he said, and has been making $200 to $300 in profit each day. But for him, the hot dog stand has been less about making ends meet and more about taking on a creative project.

“It’s given me a chance to be in the community more,” Stein said. Some of his customers, he said, have very particular orders and have become regulars. “If I can bring that to their life, that makes me really happy.”

Still, Stein said that he’s looking forward to returning to his day job, whenever that may be.

“People who are tax lawyers for the government aren’t doing it for the money,” he said. “Everyone wants to get back to work, because we actually like what we do.”

• Hannah Neeleman, the face of Ballerina Farm, makes lunch for her husband and eight kids every day.
• They always eat a combination of carbs, lean protein, and vegetables.
• Dietitians back the sort of minimally processed diet that Neeleman follows.

Hannah Neeleman, the face of the lifestyle brand Ballerina Farm and “tradwife” influencer known for cooking elaborate meals from scratch, doesn’t overthink lunch.

“It’s super simple,” Neeleman told Business Insider. This may surprise her over 21 million social media followers, who have watched her make intricate dishes like fresh buttermilk pie or asparagus tart.

Most days, the 35-year-old entrepreneur and homesteader prepares a simple, balanced meal consisting of a carb, a lean protein, and some vegetables for herself, her husband, Daniel Neeleman, and their eight homeschooled kids. It’s a custom they picked up in Brazil, where the couple lived for four years after college.

Dietitians and nutrition researchers have previously told Business Insider of the importance of eating a balance of high-fiber produce, lean protein, and healthy fats, while minimizing ultra-processed foods where possible. This whole-food diet is, of course, easier to follow if you live on a farm than, say, in a tiny apartment in a city.

Homemade bread, steak, and fresh vegetables are on the menu for lunch

For carbs, Neeleman tends to make potatoes, pasta, rice, or quinoa. “I make bread a few times a week, so if it’s a bread day, then we have bread as well,” she said.

For protein, it’s usually steak or a roast — living on a cattle farm, there’s no shortage of frozen meat— and the veggies are sourced from their garden.

Protein is crucial for building and maintaining muscle mass, which not only keeps us strong and mobile but also plays a key role in metabolic health.

Meanwhile, fiber — found in fresh produce, whole grains, and beans — aids digestion. Research has also linked eating a variety of high-fiber plants to a more diverse community of gut microbes, a marker of good gut health. Fiber feeds these “good” gut microbes.

The family washes their minimally processed meal down with a glass of water kefir, a fermented drink made of water and water kefir grains, which contains probiotics or microbes beneficial to the gut.

Neeleman simple diet includes sweet treats

Neeleman’s breakfast is super simple, too. She has homemade yogurt and a scoop of Ballerina Farm’s maple cinnamon protein powder.

Dinner is more flexible as the kids have different extracurricular activities and schedules. She’s in the routine of making quick meals with the ingredients she has on hand.

“If you make just pasta with meat sauce, we always have ground beef in the fridge, and boil pasta and put your marinara sauce. It takes 15 minutes,” she said.

The majority of what they eat is homemade, but occasionally, she’ll throw a frozen sourdough pizza from the Ballerina Farm farmstand in the oven.

Neeleman doesn’t enjoy junk food because she said it hurts her stomach, but is partial to a chocolate croissant or a good-quality chocolate ice cream.

“Strauss has a really good Dutch cocoa ice cream that I always buy at Whole Foods when we go. It’s just so good, and I hide it in the freezer,” she said.