LAYOFFS ARE AN INEVITABLE REALITY OF CONTEMPORARY WORK LIFE

In today’s fast-changing job market, global layoffs have become a prevailing reality, leaving countless individuals grappling with uncertainty about their professional futures. In an exclusive interview, Prof. Sharma, Director, II[M Rohtak, shares invaluable advice on how to stay relevant and thrive in the face of layoffs. Excerpts from the interview...

- Aanchal Ghatak

What advice would you give to individuals who have been affected by global layoffs on how they should adapt their skills and mind-set to stay relevant in the job market?

In the last several decades, the employment relationship is becoming more transactional leading to layoffs by firms, resignations, and work-place negligence. Overall, attitudes towards work have changed in recent years. There was a time when students in school would write on sheets of paper “WORK IS WORKSHIP” to internalize the fact that KARMA is essential for everyone. However, post-Covid, attitude towards work has become such that work is now considered as drudgery. Hence, the need of the hours is to adopt a career–centric mindset rather than a job–centric one. Individuals should view each job as a stepping-stone in their career path at large. Individuals must devote themselves to work and do the best they can in their capacity. Rather than looking for external attribution for their successes and failures individuals, they must look inwards. A growth mindset instead of tenuremindset would help employees recover and rebound from the pain of being fired and will steer them towards better opportunities in the future. In addition to the right mindset, the possession of critical and valued skills would also help terminated employees attract comparable jobs swiftly.

How can management education institutions like IIM play a role in helping individuals navigate the challenges of global layoffs?