In the end Shamra suffered a temporary pay cut, which wasn’t too bad considering his wife was also earning a salary. However, he gained valuable firsthand experience of the fragile job market.
Sharma is one of many Indians in their late 30s and 40s who are juggling monthly payments, their children’s education and ageing parents’ healthcare in an uncertain job market. He pays ₹25,000 a month for the children’s education, and another ₹40,000 for the maid’s and driver’s salaries, apart from other household expenses. His mother’s hospital expenses are covered by insurance.
“I was a specialist in my job but I was scared as I had no other skills outside my industry,” said Sharma, who has been doing everything he can to soften the blow if he is ever laid off or gets a pay cut. He decided to learn new skills by enrolling in a programme run by Stanford University, which helped him transition from the oil industry to solar and new energy. He’s now vice president of engineering and innovation at a conglomerate.
Despite bringing home a large paycheque, Sharma knows the vagaries of the job market all too well. “Layoffs are a function of the industry and the skills you have. You have to get both things right,” he said.
He has bought two apartments in Gurugram using loans and rented them out to build a cushion in case the solar industry sees mass layoffs. Rent from these flats currently covers almost 30% of his expenses.
In this story, the third in Mint Money’s series on the evolving job market, we spoke to three people in their late 30s and 40s who are juggling EMIs, their children’s education, and ageing parents’ healthcare to find out how they’re navigating the bleak job market.
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Create a buffer
Ray Dalio, the billionaire hedge fund manager, has described the phase when a person turns 40 as the ‘midlife squeeze.’ In a video on his YouTube channel, he calls it the toughest part of life, which can make or break people as they have to juggle family and work.
Abhishek Kumar, a registered investment advisor and founder of Sahaj Money, said people in this age group must invest as much as possible, live within their means, and not take on too much liability to avoid falling apart after losing their job.
Gaurav Gothi, who worked at a different oil and gas company, also saw layoffs and reschuffling at his workplace during covid. Although he was able to hold on to his job at the time, the layoffs continued. When his manager was let go in 2024, he knew his time was almost up. His son’s college fees and other necessary household expenses were constantly at the back of his mind. He was eventually laid off in March 2025 and started his own venture, a podcast studio in Bengaluru.
Sharma said, “Many young people usually get absorbed into the workforce when the industry is doing well, and I was one of them.” He no longer grows mushrooms in his apartment – he’s rented it out.
“When I was younger, companies gave me 35% annual hikes, and I was making 150% on my bonuses. I thought I had cracked the game. But the job market is like the stock market. Experience taught me that layoffs, like market downturns, are part of life and can’t be avoided. “Investing in mutual funds and having passive income work like a hedge, softening the blow when things don’t go your way.”
Fail to plan = plan to fail
Gothi, who lost his job six months ago, knew this and since 2024 had been planning what to do if he was laid off. He came up with three options: first, apply for jobs in a different department of the same company. If this doesn’t work, look for suitable jobs outside. If both of these fail, start your business.
“I knew my turn would come soon,” said Gothi, talking about the time his boss was laid off in 2024. He consulted Samit Singh, a mutual fund distributor and founder of Happy Retirement, and had a three-hour meeting with him to sort out his finances.
Singh had retired voluntarily three years earlier and could relate to his situation. He told Gothi he was spending more than others in his income bracket, and worked to reduce his expenses months before he was laid off. “I reduced my expenses by about 30% by doing simple things like planning trips in advance, using credit card points wisely, and reducing unnecessary shopping.”
When Gothi was fired, his first two plans failed. But because he had planned his finances with Singh, he was able to explore his passion project, launching a podcast studio.
The Bengaluru resident had set aside three years of expenses in liquid and debt funds, which allowed him to make systematic withdrawals on the 25th of every month. “I told him he didn’t have to worry much as he would keep getting money every month,” said Singh, who is also an independent director at Capitalmind Mutual Fund.
Though Gothi paused his SIPs, his wife continued hers, and their son started working in 2025 after completing engineering college, easing their financial burden. Although the new studio took some money out of his portfolio, his family’s stocks and mutual funds portfolio has been net positive since he lost his job.
“I always wanted to open a studio but never got the time and bandwidth. When I got out of my job, I could do the thing that I always wanted to do. But this soul-searching could not have happened if my finances were not in order,” said Gothi, adding the studio can now function on semi-autopilot. He’s now looking for the right opportunity to re-enter the job market, this time with a passive income on the side. “If I hadn’t planned well, I would have been forced to take any job that came my way, even if I didn’t like it.”
Harsh Roongta, a registered investment advisor and founder of Fee Only Investment Advisors, strongly recommends that people in their late 30s and 40s buy health insurance for their parents as hospital costs can soar. “If your employer offers insurance, take it even if it’s pricey, as claims are smoother and acceptance is guaranteed,” he said, adding that consulting a financial advisor is also crucial at this stage.
Get an early start
Unlike others her age, Deepshikha Sharma, a 41-year-old public relations executive, isn’t too worried about being laid off even though she’s experienced it firsthand in 2024.
That’s because she has been saving and investing a part of her salary since she was 23, and has already built a large corpus. But that’s only one part of the equation. She also doesn’t have to pay rent as her husband bought the house they live in before they were married. Her in-laws are former air force officers and receive a pension.
However, Kumar of Sahaj money said not everyone has such a support system, so financial planning is crucial. The first step is analysing monthly cash flows to find ways to cut unnecessary expenditure, he said.
Employees in this age bracket should also make sure their Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) details are corrected and up to date, especially when they shift jobs, he added. They should also buy a base and super top-up health insurance policy that’s separate from their employer health cover.
This is the third instalment of a Mint Money series on the evolving job market. Read the first two parts here and here.
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