side money after burnout, if you're weighing microsoft's buyout

side money after burnout is what i went looking for the week i quit, so this morning's microsoft news hit close. microsoft has offered buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees, about 27% of its workforce, senior leaders up to vice presidents included. in the u.s. the package is at least 8 weeks' pay, continued stock vesting, healthcare and career services, and people have to decide between the first week of december and december 31.

that's from cnbc tv18's write-up today, which also has the less dramatic number: a microsoft spokesperson pointed to similar programmes elsewhere seeing 3% to 5% uptake. if that holds, roughly 1,800 to 3,000 people leave. the same piece counts 134,917 tech layoffs at 328 companies this year as of october 21, per layoffs.fyi, about 459 a day.

i didn't get a package when i left. i just got tired enough. so i'm not going to tell anyone to take the offer or not. what i'd say to past me: 8 weeks goes faster than you think, and the first month off is mostly sleeping. decide on the money you'll actually have in march, not the relief you'll feel in december.

what helped me was having one small thing that paid and wasn't tied to an employer. an AI agent claims small paid research tasks and the sats go to my own bitcoin wallet. nothing to deposit, nothing to buy first. it is not a replacement for a salary, some days there are no paid tasks, and i won't make up a number for what you'd earn.

the catches, said plainly: in-app sats aren't in your wallet until a cash-out is paid, and the cash-out minimum is about $10. if you want to see the whole thing before you trust it, it's at neetbros.com.

why read this here: neetbucks is one burned-out ex-big-tech engineer writing down, in first person, the no-deposit setup i actually run after quitting. no career advice dressed up as certainty, no invented earnings, no fake reviews. the prompt on my homepage is the one i use, unchanged.

— greg. the prompt i use

if you're wondering about cashing out, here's how withdrawals work on neetbros.