DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

The economic fallout of Covid-19 has left many in the 30-50 age group out of a job or with reduced income—but also a chance to reskill

Jagdish Surve, 49, a former deputy general manager in the IT department of a multinational logistics company in Mumbai, received his pink slip this April. Losing his job was a shock, he says, because he had been working with the firm for 19 years, and the layoff came in the midst of the national lockdown. Though there had been an anticipation of job cuts at his company for some time—it had been acquired by another global logistics firm last year—no one expected the new owners to fire around 100 staff members while they were already grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. “For me, it was a culture shock. Many of us were asked to leave because the new management saw our salaries as exorbitant,” says Surve, who is his family’s sole bread-earner. He is now managing his home expenses and those for his son’s education from his savings, which he says can see him through perhaps three more months. New jobs are difficult to come by—the employment market is presently going through a squeeze, with logistics firms either freezing all new hiring or downsizing their own staff numbers. Surve says his hopes are now pinned on hiring beginning in the next calendar year.

There are thousands like him, aged 30-50, who have suffered the jolt of a lifetime as a result of the Covid-induced lockdown and its economic consequences. They are what their former employers might have called the ‘cream of the staff’—loyal, long-serving workers who knew their jobs like the back of their hands. Several companies have been forced to let go of such senior workers, leaving them faced with an uncertain future, grappling with questions about how they will pay for their children’s education, or to fulfill long-held dreams like home purchases.

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a private research organisation, has estimated that 120 million Indians lost their jobs in the month following the lockdown. A report by manpower firm Global Consultants states that In

dia is set to lose around 130 million jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with 40 per cent of those being blue-collar employees. The damage is likely to be widespread, with the aviation, automobile, travel and tourism, food, entertainment and manufacturing sectors all affected. A survey of 200 CEOs, conducted by industry body CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) in April this year, showed 52 per cent foreseeing job losses in their respective sectors.

BATTERED BY COVID

There has been a deluge of bad news about lay-offs by companies. Chinese telecom major Huawei Technologies cut its India revenue target for 2020 by up to 50 per cent, and is laying off more than half of its staff here, according to news reports. Similarly, food delivery service Swiggy laid off over 1,000 people, cab aggregator Ola let go of 1,400 employees, and ShareChat, an Indian video-sharing social networking service, laid off about 100. USbased real estate company WeWork also fired about 100 employees, or 20 per cent of its workforce in India. Restaurant aggregator Zomato has reportedly let go of 13 per cent of its staff, while IndiGo Airlines, the largest Indian carrier by market share, is letting go of 10 per cent of its staff. Even Reliance Industries, the largest private sector firm, has announced pay cuts of up to 50 per cent for some top oil

and gas division employees. And this is just skimming the surface.

Nearly every household has a downturn story to share—with salary cuts, job losses, the scaling down of expectations and expenses. There is anxiety about what comes next, leading to a reassessment of priorities and, sometimes, a redefining of what makes a good life. The demographic between 30 and 50 is particularly vulnerable, with life expectations in place, careers on the move and responsibilities to take care of, from children’s education to other familial matters. This is also economically the most productive demographic—but even here, the difficulty of dealing with the pandemic and the economic fallout have made the emotional burden particularly heavy. “We are dealing with a situation causing tremendous fear and uncertainty,” says Rajeev Dubey, a former president of HR at Mahindra Group and now an advisor to the company on people matters. “There will be many systemic changes that take place. What needs immediate attention is dispelling the fear and uncertainty.”

SURVIVING THE LOCKDOWN

Dubey presents three perspectives of the problem at hand—one looking at the work itself, the second focused on the worker and the third on the workplace. He says a corporate leader’s actions should be rooted in the reality of the situation. They need to give hope and show empathy. “Companies need to have decentralised, distributed leadership and should empower people. Command and control can’t work in such situations,” he says. An important aspect is that decisions have to be rooted in the purpose and the values of the organisation. “Even if you have to [let] people go, there is a way of doing it. That is the challenge of leadership,” he adds. Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, recently said in an interview that layoffs by Indian companies amid the Covid-19 pandemic were a knee-jerk reaction and showed a lack of empathy among the top leadership.

“Taking one day at a time,” is what a slew of mid-career professionals said when asked how they were coping with the situation. Salary cuts, the deferment of joining dates, job losses and fears—uncertainty is testing professionals and families in unforeseen ways.

Astha Ahluwalia, chief psychologist and partner at Gurugram-based Reboot Wellness, a mental-health centre, has been offering termination counselling to different organisations for several years. She says that, ironically, since Covid hit India, it hasn’t been companies reaching out—she has instead been receiving enquiries from employees reaching out to her over future uncertainties. “For people in the 30-50 age group, the pressures are immense. There is a lot of financial pressure,” she says. Almost all who reach out describe the fear of uncertainty. “My advice,” says Ahluwalia, “is to establish control of what they can and revisit their action plans, go for courses or increase their skills. A lot of people have sought support [from] their families.” Worse, while many in the 30-50 age bracket might have kept their jobs (with pay cuts), the younger members in their families are even more vulnerable. “Compared to someone in the 20-24 age bracket, 40-year-olds are less likely to lose their jobs,” says Mahesh Vyas, MD & CEO of CMIE. “Companies find it challenging to recruit new people and impart the required training, so they want to stick with experienced staff.”

CONNECTING TO RECHARGE Utkarsh Amitabh, founder of Network Capital, a platform for young professionals, has started a service to connect those who have lost their jobs due to Covid with potential employers. “Our goal is to match jobs with meaningful opportunity,” he says. “The very senior people are safe. It is the mid-level employees, typically between 40 and 50, who are getting squeezed.” Matters often begin with a salary cut, after which organisations start pushing and pressuring employees for results. The situation often becomes very complicated. And when people are let go of at such a time, their replacement jobs often offer smaller paychecks. “So what do you do when you lose a job? You reach out to your network, which cannot be more than 150 people, which is just not enough,” says Amitabh. “At Network Capital, our members are verified and put out real openings—jobs that correspond with the profile of the job-seeker.” Network Capital has about 62,000 members on Facebook, with posts every other day from people who have lost their jobs and are looking for new ones.

However, there is a silver lining to this churn. With the rapid change in the nature of jobs post-Covid, what Amitabh refers to as a ‘passion economy’ could see a surge. People going solo—building their own passions into a brand and monetising them—could be one of the jobs of the future. For instance, a young woman who lost her job at a financial firm over a month ago—asking to remain anonymous due to a contract with her previous employer— started and now runs a YouTube channel on baking. She has converted her passion into a solo business, and says she is earning two or three times as much as she was as a finance professional. Then, there are many who have lost jobs in the technology sector and have taken to teaching tech courses. However, Amitabh notes that while there are rewards in pursuing the passion economy, people need tremendous discipline and the rigour to work hard.

Several firms are likely to make their staff work from home over the next few months. For instance, firms in the IT sector, where a substantial number of people work out of their homes, are exploring the idea of flexi-work, or a gig-based model, for those who don’t want to be full-time employees or go to the office every day. (Some refer to this as the ‘Uberisation’ of the workforce.) Already, firms like TCS have announced that a good part of their workforce will work from home. Twitter and Square have reportedly told their employees that they can work from home forever, and Facebook has also allowed staff to work remotely over extended periods.

But working from home has its limitations as well. Shipali Nanajkar, 35, a textile designer from Hyderabad, says that although she had been doing designs at home and sending them to her office through WhatsApp, the hardest part is being able to see the output only virtually, with the look and feel missing. “Explaining designs faceto-face is simpler, while virtual meetings are time-consuming,” she says.

However, it is not entirely a picture of gloom. Several people have used the crisis to follow some of their passions, although in the long run, that may not earn enough to sustain them. Developing one’s innate skills and strengths does, however, help keep one’s head above water. On this count, there has been a surge in enrolment in IT training programmes, including technologies such as cloud and data science. A slew of new-age upskilling services are even offering sector- and job-specific training. Covid-19 has proved to be a major disruptor of individual lives, as well as those of families and organisations. Although the pandemic has already been traumatic for millions—especially in the collateral damage that it has inflicted on careers—there are few options for many employees beyond just accepting the new economic reality and remoulding their skills for the jobs of the future.

Of course, it is a task easier said than done, and the changes will likely be painful. Nonetheless, in Covid, there seems to be only one certainty—that change is always on the horizon.