Microsoft recently announced a new round of layoffs that affected around 9,000 people. As if the situation wasn’t already difficult enough for those impacted, a company executive ended up making a recommendation that angered some of the former employees even more.
Matt Turnbull, executive producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing, took to social media to advise laid-off employees on how to deal with the “emotional burden” of the challenges they’re facing. In his post, Turnbull suggested using artificial intelligence tools — like Microsoft’s own Copilot — to help with this process.
“These are really difficult times, and if you are facing a layoff — or even quietly preparing for one — know that you are not alone and you do not have to go through this alone.
I know these types of tools can trigger strong feelings in people, but it would be remiss of me not to try to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances. I’ve been experimenting with ways to use AI tools with language models (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive burden that comes with losing a job.”
The executive even suggested some prompts for those laid off to use with AI, such as:
- “I’m dealing with impostor syndrome after being fired. Can you help me reframe this experience in a way that reminds me of my strengths?”
- “I was laid off from a [position] in the gaming industry. Help me put together a 30-day plan to regroup, research new positions, and start applying without burning out.”
- “Write a friendly message that I can send to former coworkers letting them know that I am exploring new opportunities.”
As expected, the reception to Turnbull’s post was not positive. Many criticized the executive’s apparent lack of empathy, especially considering that some of these layoffs were allegedly linked to replacement by AI. After the negative repercussion, Turnbull quickly deleted his post.
