Manisha Sharma (name changed) was always among the high achievers in her company. She was recognised and rewarded for those efforts as well. Mid-December 2022, however, she received a jolt: an email informing her that she had been laid off – along with several of her colleagues. Sharma worked for a big tech firm, which had decided to downsize. And just like that, she was asked to go.

“It did come as a shock,” she says. “I did not take calls for the first two days, but then realised there is no point in beating oneself up for a situation that’s not in your hand. I thought let this be an opportunity to take a break. I’ll now start looking for a job,” she adds.

Sharma is among many such young people who have found themselves without a job overnight with global tech majors and several Indian start-ups handing out pink slips en masse.

Many of them that Business Standard spoke with said that af