Layoffs can be devastating, especially when they come after giving everything to a company. That is exactly what happened to Iren Azra Zou, a software engineer who was laid off from Amazon in October, as reported by Business Insider.
In the days leading up to the announcement, there were rumors that something big was coming. Zou sensed trouble even though she believed she was performing well and had met her goals ahead of schedule. Having already been laid off from a previous tech job in 2024, she knew how employees could turn into “just numbers on a spreadsheet.” Sleep was elusive that night.
The next morning confirmed her fears. At 6 a.m., an automated text from Amazon asked her to check her email for an update about her role. She immediately understood what it meant. The email soon made it official that she was laid off.
The first person Zou told was her husband, she then reached out to close coworkers to understand the scope of the layoffs. Learning that several high-performing teammates had also been let go left her stunned. The cuts clearly went beyond individual performance. Although she had mentally braced herself due to ongoing speculation, the reality was still difficult. What helped, however, was preparation.
Financial planning as an emotional anchor
Zou and her husband had taken deliberate steps to save aggressively. They wanted to be prepared for uncertainty, including the possibility that both could lose their jobs. That financial cushion played a crucial role in keeping her grounded once the layoff became real. Instead of letting the day spiral into chaos, Zou focused on routine. Coffee in the morning, regular exercise, and sticking to a sleep schedule gave her days structure at a time when everything else felt unstable.
Within days, Zou began searching for new opportunities. Just two weeks after the layoff, she landed a new offer and accepted a software engineering role set to begin in December. She had expected tough questions about being laid off from Amazon, but they barely came up. Many interviewers, she felt, understood the scale of the layoffs and recognised that they were not performance-based. The Amazon name on her résumé, she believed, likely helped more than it hurt.
“You can do everything right and still be included in a layoff simply because you’re a number on a budget sheet,” she told Business Insider. For her, the layoff did not erase the value of the work she had done.
Rethinking what she wanted next
After the initial shock, Zou took time to think of her next move. She didn’t want to rush into just any role. Instead, she thought carefully about what kind of environment would allow her to grow. While Amazon offered massive scale and impact, it also came with heavy bureaucracy. Zou realised she wanted to work at a smaller company where her contributions would be more visible and meaningful.
She was also eager for remote flexibility. During her final months at Amazon, she had been commuting an hour each way from New Jersey to New York City, five days a week and that routine she found exhausting. Diversity also mattered to her. Her Amazon team had few women, and she hoped her next workplace would be more balanced. Gradually, her target became clear, a software engineering role at a smaller company, with flexibility, room to grow, and a healthier culture.
The power of visibility and networking
Zou credits her network and her online presence with accelerating her comeback. She is active on LinkedIn, where she regularly shares career advice for young professionals. That visibility paid off almost immediately. The day after her layoff, the chief technology officer of Double Nickel, a startup focused on truck driver recruitment, reached out to her on LinkedIn. A former Amazon employee herself, the CTO had seen Zou’s post about the layoff and felt compelled to connect.
The role aligned well with what Zou was looking for. She applied, interviewed, and soon received an offer, which she accepted. The agreement included a hybrid setup during the initial months to support onboarding, followed by a transition to fully remote work by the end of February. For Zou, it felt like the right balance and a thoughtful start to a new chapter. Looking back, the layoff was painful, but it also brought clarity. With preparation, reflection, and the support of her network, Zou turned an abrupt ending at Amazon into a confident new beginning.