Thread regarding Microsoft Corp. layoffs

I was laid off from microsoft IDC about a month ago and honestly the stress is getting to me. i have over 6 y of experience in swe engineering and thought having microsoft on my resume would make finding another job easier... apparently not. i've applied to 400+ positions and received exactly ONE interview call. i've tried naukri, instahyre, referrals, linkedin, cold messaging recruiters, pretty much everything and nothing seems to be working. what makes this soooo frustrating is how things ended at microsoft. i received a lite performance rating that i felt was completely unfair. my manager told me it triggered a choice between pip and gvsa, apparently because of some new hr policy. he kept assuring me the pip was just a formality, that the targets would be easy and that management believed in me. yet somehow i ended up with a rating that put my job at risk in the first place. i eventually decided to take gvsa and leave... and now i'm wondering whether i made the right decision. one month unemployed, hundreds of applications and practically no response. i'm based in bangalore and have been applying to fintech companies as well, both directly and through referrals. still nothing. people keep telling me to lower my salary expectations, but after spending years building my career it's difficult to accept that i might have to take a significant paycut just to get another job. i'm hearing about experienced engineers spending 6 months, 9 months or even longer looking for work... which is honestly terrifying. i'm trying to stay positive, but i also have plans for my life, getting married, buying a house, traveling. all of that becomes much harder without a steady income. i thought having 6+ years of experience and microsoft on my resume would actually mean something in this market. right now it feels like none of it matters.