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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Freddy Kristiansen, a 59-year-old former principal product manager at Microsoft's Denmark office who was laid off in May. Business Insider has verified Kristiansen's employment. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
A couple of weeks ago, after 23 years at Microsoft, I was laid off. Yet here I am, back in the office.
It might sound strange to show up at the office after being let go, but I still feel committed to the products, the people using them, and my colleagues.
I was laid off in May, and per Danish law, as an employee of over nine years, I have a six-month notice period. I've been relieved of my duties, but I am still officially an employee until the end of November. I'm also entitled to three months of severance pay after my notice.
I didn't plan to stay at Microsoft for two decades
I was originally hired by Navision in 2002. I saw it as a job I'd stay in for a year or two, but shortly after I joined, Microsoft acquired Navision. From then on, I was a Microsoft employee.
That's when I thought, "Maybe this could actually be something long-term." Indeed, it ended up being my professional home for the next 23 years.
Over the years, I have held a variety of roles, from group program management to technical evangelist. Although I never had an official developer title, I have been developing products throughout.
My last major project was AL-Go for GitHub — a tool that helps our partners use DevOps, a software development approach, in their daily work without needing to understand the complex technical details.
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