Pinky Danani (left) is trying out different things, while Pavan Pamnani goes to a cafe every day with his laptop, to search for suitable positions (Photos by Nilesh Wairkar)

Many are accepting huge pay cuts and reduced roles just to be employed.It’s not a good time to be a techie. Last week, shortly after Cognizant said that it would sack two per cent of its global staff — an estimated 12,000 people, most of whom are in India — by 2020, Infosys announced its plans to let go of between two and five per cent of its employees, or some 10,000 people, from the mid-to-senior levels. Unlike previous cycles of redundancies, where layoffs were confined to the lowest strata of the company, this time some 50 senior leaders may also lose their jobs. It isn’t just the IT industry . Data released by the Centre for Monitoring Economy (CMIE) earlier this month, shows that unemployment — standing at 8.5 per cent, as of October — is at a three-year-high across the country.Clearly, it’s not a good time to be anything.“There’s massive cost-cutting going on, all around,” says Vijay Karkare, managing director of the executive search firm, Cornerstone India . “We’re now in the second wave of redundancies where companies that were previously doing well, are letting go of people. And not just junior staff, but CXO-level leaders. Two or three roles are being merged into one, positions are being downgraded and there is immense cost and performance pressure all around. It’s a scary situation, and will probably continue for many more years.”In response, people are trying everything to hold on to their jobs. And those who have lost theirs, are desperate to do whatever it takes to claw their way back. Headhunters say a 30 to 50 per cent pay cut has become common. People are also accepting smaller roles in lesser organisations, or trying to strike out on their own, mostly without success. There’s also a mad scramble for freelance work, even though much of it is poorly paid. “There is a sense of urgency. People want to be employed, but if they can’t find anything, I advise them to look beyond the salary and try to find something where they can create value,” says Ronesh Puri , managing director of Executive Access. “India still doesn’t accept sabbaticals. Overseas, if you’re back from a break, you can command a premium. In India, if you’ve had a career break, you become a ‘discount’. Still, something in the kitty is better than nothing.”Raghu Kamath has become a cautionary tale among friends. In the last two years since he lost his job, the former HR head with a leading auto company has offered to take a substantial pay cut; explored opportunities with smaller companies in other sectors; has taken up teaching gigs; and even tried to start a consultancy — all in a bid to stay afloat. “I could’ve waited a little more, but I’m 52. I have just five or eight years of work left,” says Kamath, who finally accepted a position with a much smaller organisation, at a 40 per cent lowered salary. “I don’t think I’ll ever get anything even close to my previous role and pay, but I have to think of my family.” Kamath has two daughters, one of whom is “of marriageable age”, and the money was getting tight. “People treat you differently when you don’t have a job,” he adds. “We had a few good events with my consultancy, but I had to contact more than 300 of my previous clients and contacts to pull it together.” The biggest blow? Kamath’s realised that his 28 years of experience counts for nothing in today’s job market.Strangely, workplaces that have been skewed towards a younger demographic, are now bucking that trend. Even 20-somethings are struggling to find a job. Deepali Shah, 26, who was laid off along with some 200 others from the TV channel she worked at, has applied for over 400 positions in the last three months, with no luck. “In the beginning, I wasn’t worried. I thought I’d get something since I’m relatively junior,” she says. “But after putting my resume on every job portal that I could think of, I still didn’t receive any reverts.” She is now getting anxious. “My father is retired and my mother is a homemaker,” says Shah. “My brother doesn’t have steady work. I was the only one with a stable job. Now I don’t know what we’re going to do.” Shah is considering joining a BPO , and is steeling herself for the crazy hours and terrible pay packet. “The situation is bad for everyone,” she says. “I keep getting calls from college graduates asking if there is an opening in the channel I used to work at. I have to tell them, gently, that I myself am unemployed now.”Pavan Pamnani, 28, hits the local café with his laptop every day — to give himself some semblance of being gainfully employed. The media professional has been out of a job for many months now, and has four days to consider an offer that’s come his way after a long time. It’s a much more junior position, with a salary that is a fourth of his previous take-home. If he accepts it, the TV producer will become a ‘fashion consultant’, a glorified shopfloor executive really, and he’s dreading it. “Eight years ago, I had started out as a sales executive but moved to media because I didn’t want to do it anymore,” says Pamnani. “Now, unfortunately, I might have to go back.” Pamnani is also an ‘EMI hostage’ — the YouTuber has taken loans to buy some equipment and needs a job to pay them back. “I’m tense and a little desperate,” he says. “I never thought it’d be so difficult to find something. In 2017, when I had quit another job, I found something else within a week. This time, I’m not sure.” Pamnani had also hoped to get by with some freelance video editing, but was shocked at the going rates. “Last I knew, freelancers were paid Rs 10,000 to 15,000 per month for editing. Recently, I was offered Rs 3,000. There is desperation all around.”Vinay Kumar is also seeing subtle shifts in the employment market that puts jobseekers at a disadvantage. “Companies are looking for too-close a fitment now,” says Kumar, 47, a business development head who was laid off when the well-known two-wheeler company he worked for, shut down a whole division. “They advertise for a very specific skill-set or years of experience, and won’t accept anything but an exact fit.” For instance, if a company seeks a manager with 14 years of experience, someone with either 12 years or 16 years just won’t do. “They can afford to be picky,” adds Kumar. “The talent pool is expanding every day, with more people becoming jobless.” In the two years that Kumar has been job-hunting, he’s come across many profiles that would be perfect for him, but they haven’t worked out because he was perhaps a skill or seniority-level short. “When I was working, I would often hire a candidate even if he didn’t match the exact criteria but showed promise. But companies today, don’t want to explore anymore.” Karkare provides the reason for this. “It cuts both ways. In this downturn, organisations are also under pressure to find people who will be productive right from Day 1,” he says. So they’re not ready to compromise on their specifications.Kumar has also found that offering to join at a reduced salary and a lower designation often backfires as well. “Companies react with scepticism to such candidates,” he says. “They analyse, correctly, that when something better comes along, this person will be the first to leave.” On the other hand, the stigma around having taken a break — often a euphemism for long periods of joblessness — is likely to go, says Kumar, with growing unemployment. “There may come a time when everyone will have a career break in their resume, so companies will be forced not to discriminate against candidates on that basis. The ‘gap’ is here to stay.” Pinky Danani is making full use of it. The 38-year-old, who has 18 years of experience, tried her hand at different assignments when she lost her job in 2018, and is currently unemployed. “Either they offer me a pittance, or set me up to fail with unreasonable work targets. It’s very stressful,” says Danani, who is upset that her current status has affected her larger life plans: Of travel, of doing things on her own, of getting married. Very soon, she says, she will also have elder-care responsibilities as well, since she lives with her parents. “But I exercise, read and help my father with his work. I spend my time fruitfully, rather than mope about not having a job,” says Danani. “But my friends don’t treat me very well now that I don’t have a job, and society looks at me differently. It makes me feel inadequate, and less accomplished than I know I am. It makes me think – ‘I don’t have a job. What am I doing with my life?’(Some names changed on request)