Microsoft lays off pregnant employee: Maternity leave concerns take over – Trending News

Layoffs, layoffs and layoffs. Be it any leading tech giant, one too many jobs have succumbed to this dreaded term and its sour implications across the world. At a time like this, a social media user, presumably a pregnant woman, took to the ‘Anonymous and Professional’ online community called Blind, to share her own sad story.

Featured in the Layoffs Forum section, which has over 3 million followers taking note of a slew of unfortunate job cuts, the post titled, “Laid off from Microsoft pregnant,” was shared by an anonymous ex-Microsoft employee. In hopes of getting advice from fellow pregnant women in the professional sphere, she popped the question that she desperately needed an answer to: “Women who got laid off while pregnant, what are your next steps?”

While wondering if other ladies were vying for external opportunities in such a situation, she also hopefully sought the answer to another worthy question.

Given her “extremely tired & disturbed” current condition, she had all sorts of concerns tied to maternity leave eligibility, especially whether it would be granted to someone like her who’d only been attached to a new employer for a brief period of time. Revealing that her expected due date is in October, the former Microsoft staffer also divulged that while her manager was in the know about the same, the HR wasn’t, and so, it inevitably would amount to no maternity leaves for her.

While her confession did indicate that she may have switched paths to a different company in the recent past, she seemed open to exploring a new professional destination where she could be eligible for maternity benefits from Day 1. “The clock is ticking if I need to find something that will get me maternity leave,” she appealed.

Fellow pregnant laid off women speak out

Eventually, a fellow former Microsoft employee came to her side in the comments section, revealing that she, too, had been laid off during her pregnancy. Surprisingly, the month of their expected delivery coincided as well. “I am in the same boat. I can’t afford not to work given that my husband and I were both laid off,” she wrote back. In her initial response, she just hoped to vent: “I am trying not to stress and hope savings, severance and vesting stocks and If I need to take a loan from my 401k will get me through it.”

When asked about the way forward, she nodded to looking for external jobs as “there isn’t much at Microsoft.”

On the flip side, another user with the Microsoft banner claimed that there couldn’t have been a “better time to get laid off than when you’re pregnant.” Although they considered it a “freebie,” someone else reminded them that not everyone could afford that luxury: “Healthcare is expensive. Child birth can exceed $50k billed to insurance if it requires a c section. And this is not including all the regular healthcare costs in the first year.”

A professional tied to Meta attempted to console her while simultaneously offering bright advice. “First, certainly negotiate your severance – both healthcare coverage extension and payment can be valuable,” she commented. Admitting that she was also laid off pregnant, the user added, “Consensus was that a career gap is perfectly acceptable these days especially as many tech workers take a break after layoff.” On the priority front about whether Day 1 eligibility was a reality, she continued, “It’s a bit difficult to find out the eligibility for matleave, Google, meta, adobe have day 1- but it does exist at many tech companies!”

A male employee laid off from Amazon, now possibly attached to Capital One, shared that he was let go at a time when he was expecting to welcome a baby boy in the next two weeks. “My paternity leave was denied. I could have fought it, but opted not to. The severance check will be presented with paperwork that essentially says. Take this money now or run the risk of never getting it. I took the money waved my options. Not saying this was the right course, but be aware they will tempt you like this,” he said.

Microsoft India maternity leave policy

Back in 2016, Microsoft India enhanced its maternity leave policy to six months. In an official note, the company said, “Microsoft has extended the maternity leave for its women employees to six months from the current three months. This is in addition to Microsoft India’s continued support to its women employees by offering them the option of availing unpaid leave up to three months and flexible work arrangements up to two years. The new maternity policy will be effective from 1^st February 2016 and also benefit all women employees who are currently on maternity leave.”

As for male employees, Microsoft offered them two weeks of paternity leave. Mothers were also seen eligible for eight calendar weeks of paid leave in case caring for adopted children was involved. Fathers in the same situation were rendered eligible for two weeks of paid leave.

Sweeping Microsoft layoffs even impacts someone like top job-holder AI director

While the timeline of the OP being laid off from Microsoft is shrouded in mystery and anonymity, the tech titan recently announced it would be cutting off ties with over 6,000 employees. It marks the company’s second biggest layoff ever, and the largest one since 10,000 workers were eliminated in 2023.

“We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. These sweeping changes started impacting employees on Tuesday. Unprecedentedly, Gabriela de Queiroz, Director of AI at Microsoft, was part of the 3% of its affected global workforce.

“Bittersweet news to share: I was impacted by Microsoft’s latest round of layoff. Was I expecting it? Maybe. These days, no matter how hard you work, how much you advocate for your company, or how much visibility you bring–none of that makes you immune to restructuring,” she wrote in a heartfelt LinkedIn message.

“Am I sad? Absolutely. I’m heartbroken to see so many talented people I’ve had the honour of working with being let go. These are people who cared deeply, went above and beyond, and truly made a difference.” Her message concluded, offering a sense solidarity: “To those also affected–you’re not alone. We are at least 6,000.”

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