After 22 years at Microsoft, Joe Friend was laid off in May, six months before qualifying for full stock vesting at age 65.
He’s not hunting for another Big Tech role. Instead, he’s choosing purpose over paychecks, smaller teams over org charts, and work that feels useful over work that scales. (Source: Business Insider)
His pivot mirrors a shift thousands of PMs are making right now: Big Tech’s “deal” is broken, and the best opportunities are moving elsewhere.
Big Tech Is Flattening: What’s Changing In 2025
Large companies are trimming manager layers and asking product leaders to own bigger, broader scopes.
The bar is higher, the layers are thinner, and growth comes from outcomes, not titles. And this is the new normal for PMs.
Career Impact For Product Managers
Scope over seniority
Hiring teams want to see what you shipped, what moved, and why it mattered, in that order.
Depth beats breadth
Teams want PMs who can run discovery, read P&Ls, and ship without handholding, not executors who coordinate slides.
Smaller companies win back talent
Faster cycles and direct customer contact give PMs more control.
Product Manager roles grew 2.8% in September 2025, with the strongest gains in mid-market companies under 500 people, not Big Tech.
Leadership roles are up 4.7%, but almost entirely at smaller, founder-led companies where PMs own P&L, not process.
If you’re exploring earlier‑stage roles, our guide How to Succeed as Your Company’s First Product Manager shows how to set product culture from day one.
Signals It’s Time To Look Beyond Big Tech
If you’re questioning whether it’s time to move, trust that instinct.
Here’s what burnout disguised as “stability” looks like:
You spend more time aligning slides than learning from users.
Your scope shrinks as the org flattens.
Your roadmap lives in PowerPoint jail, hostage to Q4 planning theater.
You feel more “process manager” than product leader.
To shift your stance, read Why PMs Should Stop Asking for Permission and Start Leading and start driving outcomes, not requests.
Where The Next Wins Are Likely To Be
The companies hiring aggressively right now share 3 traits:
Profitable mid-market SaaS with lean teams
Companies where PMs own discovery → launch → revenue in quarters, not years, and can point to ARR impact by name.
Founder-led companies that still run on customer truth
Places where the CEO or founder still takes customer calls weekly and product decisions happen in days, not committee cycles.
Dev tools and B2B ops where product speed equals revenue
Products where shipping a new integration or automation can unlock 5-figure deals within weeks.
If you want vetted roles with less noise, see how our job verification process works so your search time goes to real openings.
Why This Shift Helps Your Career
Clearer ownership and faster feedback loops.
Better stories for your portfolio: problem → bet → result.
Skills that travel across company sizes, including AI literacy. If you’re curious, start with Becoming an AI Product Manager: 7 Simple Steps to Success.
Below is the full step‑by‑step playbook with templates, scripts, and a 90‑day plan.
Upgrade to premium to get the action plan you can run this week. Your Q1 2026 self will thank you.
🔐The 90‑Day Pivot Plan For Product Leaders (Templates Included)
This is a simple, repeatable plan to go from “reorg shock” to traction. Copy, paste, and ship.
Days 0–30: Stabilize And Tell Your Story
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