-
Hemant Virmani was fired by Amazon in a round of layoffs in October 2025.
-
He used the time to learn new AI skills while applying for engineering positions and exercising.
-
His teenage daughter inspires him to stay positive, calm and focused on the future.
This well-known article is based on a conversation with Hemant Virmani, a 47-year-old Washington technology professional. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Amazon had been a part of my daily life for 11.5 years, and suddenly it was gone.
There is no right or easy way to do layoffs. I watched my team members get laid off in 2023 and I know how difficult it is. Still, I was shocked when I received an email in the middle of the night in October 2025 that I was being laid off from my position as Senior Software Development Manager.
Watching my teenage daughter overcome difficult situations of her own has taught me the greatest lessons about how to move forward. Now, I’m applying for jobs and working on improving my AI skills so I can be proactive about the tech industry, rather than reactive.
Only time will tell if this layoff is a blessing in disguise, but for now, it has made for a refreshing change.
I had two great meetings with senior leaders after layoffs
I loved my time at Amazon and I really feel like it’s a great place for great people. The amount of quality talent in the office is amazing, coming up with ideas and solving custom problems.
The morning after the layoff, I had the required 30-minute meeting with my manager, which actually went well. We discussed layoffs and he offered me support. He conveyed it all to me in a very positive, human way, which was really affirming.
The next day, an old manager also took the initiative to contact me to meet at a local coffee shop to spend time together and understand my mental state. I think he wants to do the layoffs right, but it’s not easy to do.
My daughter taught me to face layoffs positively
For the first few days, I felt attached to the layoff. However, I know there is no way to control what happens – I can only control my reaction to it.
My daughter is a high school student who faced adverse circumstances last year and needed rehab. Her reaction during that difficult time inspired me. Her mindset is: “Challenges don’t have to stop me from working hard for myself or others.” Her positive attitude inspires me to do the same.
I learned from her that I had to take this layoff positively, stay calm, and focus on the next step.
It’s refreshing to think about what comes next after layoffs
A few weeks later I lost my father and spent the next month raising my family in India. I spent about a month getting my mind together, thinking about my next career goals, and helping my daughter with her college essay.
It was a very refreshing change to think about what I wanted next in my engineering career. I’m less focused on the size or name of the next company I work for and more focused on what I’ll be doing there. I’m looking forward to leading Engineering to do things that will have a huge impact on our customers. Currently, I don’t think I can do this without AI, so I’m working on improving my skills.
I’m learning new AI skills that I didn’t have time to master at Amazon
I want to take a proactive rather than a reactive approach to the AI skills needed in the future. My team at Amazon uses some AI tools, so I’m familiar with some of them, but I can only spend a small portion of my workday using them. Now, I’m developing these skills myself.
A few weeks ago I started working on a hobby AI project in order to experience AI first-hand and become more aware of the realities of its current state. It’s different and a refreshing change to build something yourself instead of researching it, reading about it, or developing it in a team.
I’m applying for jobs and focusing on my health
When I have a job, it’s easy for my first priority to be work. Now I make sure my first priority is my health. I go to the gym four or five days a week and am perfecting a fitness plan to follow even after I start working again.
Once I’m done training in the gym, my time is split evenly between learning about AI and applying for jobs or networking. I’m applying for an Engineering Director position, I have high impact initiatives and average 2-3 applications per week.
I posted on LinkedIn about my layoff and received a lot of supportive comments, texts, and phone calls, some from people I hadn’t spoken to in decades. It was wonderful that a college classmate whom I had not spoken to in 25 years reached out to me. It feels like we never lost touch. I also received multiple job leads from my posts that I am following up on.
Layoffs could be a blessing in disguise
So far, I’ve been a little worried about when I’ll find my next job, but this one has given me the ability to do things I couldn’t do before. I make sure I go through this time with a positive attitude and not allow negative thoughts to arise.
My advice to anyone going through a layoff is to realize that the layoff has nothing to do with you. It’s about the circumstances that lead to layoffs. Secondly, now that something has happened, you can’t go back in time and change it. Looking forward to what you can do next. How you react is very important.
Do you have a story to share about getting fired from Amazon? If so, please contact the reporter at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.
Read the original article on Business Insider