The 40s have traditionally been seen as the golden period in a professional’s journey, a time when experience meets peak performance, financial responsibilities are at their peak, and leadership opportunities become more accessible. However, in today’s volatile corporate environment, this very age group is increasingly finding itself at a crossroads, vulnerable to layoffs and squeezed out of opportunities.
A tweet by Bengaluru-based influencer Rajiv Talreja has ignited discussion on the precarious position of professionals aged 42-45 in the corporate world. In his viral post, Talreja remarked, “The retirement age in large corporates is not 60… it is between 42 to 45… Companies are laying off people in this age bracket because they are what the Finance team calls Payroll cholesterol… so if you are in a Corporate job and you don’t have a portfolio of investments or a commercial property giving you a decent rental income or the idea & skills to start your own business, your family is at a massive risk my friend…”
‘Indian corp is doomed with politics and slave forming juggernaut’
The statement struck a chord with many. One user commented on the harsh reality of late realisations, “At 45 when people come to realise this they have lost time, stamina to learn other ways to make money. They end up starting a business as they don’t have employment and fail. Hard truth in life.”
Another added a broader perspective on post-pandemic hiring practices, “Agree and the scenario has turned worse post COVID, orgs are able to find people in mid 30s who can do same stuff at half of salaries and can slave more. Indian corp is doomed with politics and slave forming juggernaut.”
A third user pointed out the intergenerational economic imbalance, “Previous generation hoarded real estate and made living in cities extremely expensive for current generation. Current generation is undercutting previous generation’s job by getting more done for lesser cost. If you allow free market in one direction, you should allow in other direction too.”
In light of the growing job insecurity, many have emphasised the importance of diversifying income early on. One netizen shared their journey towards financial independence through a side hustle, “I strongly believe that one needs to start a side hustle very early in their career and move to it full-time as soon as possible. That is the only way to avoid this looming risk. I ventured in the field of trading & investments around 4-5 yrs back & have now been consistently profitable by trading positional Nifty options from last 3 years. What started as a side hustle, looks like will realize my dream of being financially independent very soon Was it easy — NO. But was it worth — Big YES! I encourage everyone to pick a path that they can pursue as a side hustle. For me, trading worked, I can say from my experience — it is realistically very possible to do trading part-time.”
“Cant agree more. People are losing jobs across domains. The salaries arent increasing. Please start saving for the rainy day. None of us know when that day comes ! Ensure all Insurances are intact. Enjoy life but save as much as you can for your kids & your retirement,” claimed a user.