Brand Makers
Dil Ka Jod Hai, Tootega Nahin

A mid-level manager earning ₹70 lakh per annum has described a severe seven-month struggle to re-enter the workforce after being laid off by a Nifty50 company during a major restructuring exercise. The professional, an alumnus of an older IIT with 18 years of experience, wrote on Reddit that life now feels “back to zero”, with savings rapidly diminishing and only two months of financial runway remaining.
The post, titled “Laid-off mid-level manager, unable to get a job back”, details how the setback came just weeks after purchasing a larger home. The EMI soon became unmanageable without a salary, forcing the manager to rent out the property almost immediately.
Efforts to restart a stable career have yielded little progress. The manager said applications across LinkedIn and Naukri, outreach through references, and assistance from recruitment consultants have brought almost no traction. Even paid premium job-search services have not improved the situation. Over seven months, only a handful of consultant calls and two interviews have materialised.
Reddit users expressed sympathy, with many noting similar experiences in a tightening job market, particularly for mid-level professionals. One user suggested the manager was likely being overlooked for being “overqualified” for most available positions, while another warned that the current job market remains “brutal” with no clear signs of recovery in the near term.
"The raucous, almost deafening, cuss words from the heartland that Piyush Pandey used with gay abandon turned things upside down in the old world order."
Read MoreFrom OpenAI’s ChatGPT-powered Atlas to Microsoft’s Copilot-enabled Edge, a new generation of AI-first browsers is transforming how people search, surf and interact online — and reshaping the future of digital advertising.