“I didn’t think it would turn into a career – I saw it as a way to earn some money while figuring out what to do next,” he said.
Event Context
Then, around 2017, as the company expanded and the number of conference rooms increased, Chen shared that he began experimenting with Python to solve problems related to scaling the technology. “I wrote a script that made it much faster to update conference room technology, and it changed the direction of my career,” he told the outlet.
Over the following years, Chen revealed that he transitioned into software engineering and eventually became a tech lead at Meta.
(Also Read: Bengaluru techie builds ‘I GOT FIRED’ button amid AI layoff fears: ‘One click makes company codebase public’)
Chen said that he had already started looking for other roles in the weeks before the layoff, partly because he was feeling increasingly anxious about the possibility of losing his job. However, after being laid off, he decided to pause his job search.
The techie said Meta provided a severance package reflecting his roughly 10 years as a full-time employee. The financial cushion, along with his children’s summer break, allowed him to spend time with his family and take a break before restarting his job search.
Team Analysis
He said that the company’s priorities shifted again about a year and a half later, with a renewed emphasis on building. “Between leadership changes and shifting priorities, it became harder to know where my team was headed and what we should prioritize,” he added.
The techie said that the changes were particularly difficult for him because he was on paternity leave from August 2025 until the end of the year. “By the time I returned to work, the company was using AI much more extensively, there had been team and leadership shifts, and it took me some time to get reacclimated. After being away for four months, it felt like the whole company had changed,” he said.
Match Outlook
Chen recalled that it was on May 20 when he learned that he had lost his job, along with many of his colleagues. He said that the layoffs were not completely unexpected, as Meta had already confirmed that job cuts were coming. However, he said that he was still surprised to be among those affected.
(Also Read: ‘Constantly fearing layoffs’: Techie quits corporate rat race to launch startup)
Reflecting on his career journey, he said his biggest lesson was to “say yes to problems and look for opportunities to solve them”. “Every challenge I took on became a stepping stone to the next opportunity, and that’s ultimately what helped me grow from a DJ to a conference room technician to a tech lead,” he said.
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According to Chen, the company’s culture and priorities began changing after the major layoffs in late 2022 and early 2023. “Before then, I felt our teams had the resources to build ambitious projects,” he said, adding that the focus shifted towards “doing more with less” after the layoffs.
