How job uncertainty shapes millennial finances, careers

Those in late 20s, mid-30s face rising job insecurity, with layoffs hitting even top performers

- ShipraSingh

Six years ago, when Shamik Bhattacharya left a corporate job at Oracle for a startup, he thought he was trading predictability for creative freedom. Instead, he faced setbacks-he was laid off twice for no fault of his own.

“The first startup shut down. The second was hit by an audit after financial misconduct by founders. Each time I managed to land a job during notice period, but the mental stress was overbearing,” he said.

Now 36, Bhattacharya works with an Austria-based startup while pursuing an executive MBA from IIM Ahmedabad to strengthen his CV. But he worries about Europe’s weak economy and the mid-30s squeeze as employers cut middle-management roles. “At my level, companies would rather hire three juniors who cost less,” he said.

Younger professionals share the concern. For 28-year-old marketing professional Srija Bovindala, seeing her team let go while she was spared deepened her anxiety. “Every day at work feels like this might be it,” she said.

In Bangalore, 30-year-old HR professional Vasudha echoes this uncertainty. “I've seen colleagues being handed pink slips over the last year. It’s difficult to see logic behind each layoff, so there’s no way to tell if I'm next. It makes giving your best feel conflicting because performance is clearly not the only thing being considered.”

For professionals in their late 20s to mid-30s like Bhattacharya, Bovindala and Vasudha, steady jobs and linear career growth feel like a relic. Layoffs across tech, HR, marketing and data science have become so common that even high performers live with one eye on the exit door.