Microsoft Employee Loses Job After 33 Years Due To System He Pitched

Jeff Bodgam, a senior executive at Microsoft who spent around three decades in the company, found himself terminated from his position in February.

A senior executive at Microsoft who spent around three decades in the company found himself terminated from his position in February. The elimination of Jeff Bogdan from the position was the result of HR adopting the hub-and-spoke model for learning and development (L&D) that he pitched.

“After successfully spreading a ‘learn-it-all’ mindset throughout the org, it was time to spread a ‘teach-it-all’ mindset to accompany this. I focused on organising the learning investments for a 2,000-person organisation and then worked to align that with learning & development offerings from our parent organisations and from central HR,” Jeff Bogdan, whose 33 years of “incredible” experience at Microsoft ended in February 2024, said in a post on LinkedIn months after the job elimination.

He said his entire MS career has been an “incredible” ride. The three products he is proudest of are Windows Phone, Zune, and Windows 95. “But the biggest payoff for me came in these last 2 years, when I pitched and landed an L&D role in Windows.”

“My job elimination was the result of HR adopting the hub & spoke model for L&D that I was pitching. Sadly, when my division already had their L&D team in place, there wasn’t a seat at the table for me,” Bogdan said.

After abundant reflection, he said, he has concluded that he is nowhere close to the “R word”. There is still so much that I want to contribute. So now begins the journey of finding my second career.

The simple start is via consulting. I see consulting as a way to learn more about the industry and understand where my expertise can best advance the industry.

Talking about his journey at Microsoft, he said his 33-year run with the wonderful Microsoft came to a close in February when my job was eliminated.

“I spent the last 2 weeks at Microsoft trying to say a “proper goodbye” to my enormous second family. I then spent the 2 weeks that followed in Chelan, half the time with family and half the time in solo reflection,” Jeff Bogdam wrote in the LinkedIn post.