“I feel responsible for my team and my clients”

According to The records of LayoffsMicrosoft has fired more than 6,000 employees in what we had of 2025. One of those employees was Freddy Kristiansen59, fired from the Microsoft subsidiary in Denmark in May 2025 after a 23 -year career in the company as a product manager.

However, although officially it is no longer part of the company, Kristiansen Keep going to the office. “It may sound rare to appear in the office after being fired, but I still feel committed to the products, with the people who use them and with my colleagues,” he explains In an interview for Business Insider.

A link that goes beyond the contract

Its history began in 2002, when it was hired by Navision, a company that shortly after It was acquired by Microsoft. What thought it would be a temporary job finally became a professional career of more than two decades. “I thought: ‘Maybe this can be something in the long term.’ And so,” Kristiansen recalled.

Although the Danish law he grants him A period of six months and three months of compensation after the dismissal for being an employee more than nine years old, Kristiansen affirms that his motivation to continue going to the office It is not economical.

Microsoft relieved him of all his functions, but due to Danish legislation, Kristiansen is still an employee of Microsoft until November. Instead of using that time to look for a new job (What is designed for what is designed), the product manager continues to attend his office daily.

His last great project was Somethinga tool for github. “I feel a responsibility not only to maintain the product, but also to reassure customers to know that they are in good hands,” he told the American environment. “If you need my help, I will answer questions, I will share advice or whatever necessary. There is no reason to stop doing it,” he says.

Actually, they have done a favor

The employee’s reaction can be surprising for continuing to go to the company Instead of racing in angerbut the truth is that Kristianse’s dismissal came at a time when new personal and professional challenges had already begun. “I thought I could feel annoying, but it really was a relief,” he confesses.

While some of his companions were worried about Kristianse’s future, he saw an opportunity to lower the rhythm after two decades at the foot of the cannon. In fact, during The layoffs of 2023the veteran employee presented an anonymous consultation about the possibility of asking for a voluntary dismissal. “I never did,” he clarified.

“During the last decade I have worked very hard and I have thrown many hours. But now I am no longer interested in working 60 hours a week. It seemed to me that it was the right time to finally chase my dream long postponed to work in my own terms,” ​​he said.

As published in Your personal blogKristiansen focuses on designing his own business plan with the intention of offering consulting services such as CTO, management of projects and motivational talks, while Enjoy more free time And he takes up healthy habits. “From the dismissals, I repeat that there is no evil that for good does not come.”

Respect for the fruit of his work

Despite the dismissal, Kristiansen continues Share your experience and the decisions that marked his career.

“No one forced me to work 20 hours on weekends or strive so much, but I did it because I felt it was the right thing. I did it because I really felt a connection with our partners, our clients and my colleagues. And, honestly, I still feel it,” says the former employee.

Its involvement With customers, partners and products it remains so strong that, although its contract ends, respect for everything that it built during its years in Microsoft remains intact. At least until November, when you will have to deliver your corporate laptop and credential.

In Xataka | A company hired a worker, dismissed the boss who selected him and forgot about him: he has been charging without working seven months

Image | LinkedInUnspash (Sam Torres, Valent lau)