Layoffs in India’s IT Sector: Why Youth Mental Health Can’t Be an Afterthought

 

Layoffs in India’s IT Sector: Why Youth Mental Health Can’t Be an Afterthought

✍️ By Suryavanshi IAS

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“Inhale. Exhale. And Get Laid Off.”

This is not a punchline. It’s a reality.

In India’s booming tech sector — where 10 to 12-hour shifts are normal and productivity is celebrated as culture — the very youth that powered our digital economy is now being discarded in silence.

With Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announcing a layoff of 2% of its global workforce — more than 12,000 jobs gone — the message is clear: job security is fragile, and mental health remains invisible.

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1. Beyond the Paycheck: The Psychological Crisis

For a young IT professional, a job is not just income. It is identity, dignity, and often the only support system for an entire family.

When layoffs hit:

• Shock and disbelief set in.

• Anxiety, depression, and panic replace ambition.

• Many conceal their situation from family out of shame.

• Substance abuse rises. Self-worth drops.
  This is not speculation. These are field observations, validated by experts at NIMHANS.

We are witnessing a mental health emergency, not just an economic one.

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2. Mass Layoffs Have a Domino Effect

As Dr. Pratima Murthy rightly noted:

“The loss of income does not impact just the individual but also families who are often dependent on that one breadwinner.”

In India’s social structure, a single job often supports:

• Parents' medical expenses

• Siblings’ education

• Home loan EMIs

When that income disappears, it crushes multiple layers of the household economy — something no GDP graph reflects.

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3. Burnout Culture is Now Default

Long work hours, erratic shifts, tight deadlines, weekend calls — this is the new normal for India’s IT youth. Even before layoffs, burnout was rampant.

Now add:

• Layoff fears

• Uncertainty

• Internal competition
  And the pressure spikes dangerously.

One project manager noted:

“Mild to medium depression is normal here. We just don’t talk about it.”

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4. The Double Burden on Women

Let’s also face the facts:

Women in tech face not just equal pressure at work, but additional burdens at home — especially in patriarchal family structures.

Household duties, childcare, elder care — all after a 12-hour shift.

This is unsustainable. And it’s unjust.

Mental health for working women must be viewed as a structural issue, not a personal failing.

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5. The Real Barrier: Stigma

The greatest enemy of mental health in this sector is not layoffs — it is silence.

Young professionals are afraid to:

• Seek counselling

• Admit to stress

• Talk about burnout

Why?

Because they fear being seen as "weak" or "unemployable".

This stigma is not just cultural — it is also corporate.

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6. Corporates Must Do Better

Yes, some companies offer in-house counsellors and mental wellness sessions.

But let’s be honest — most of these are performative.

“They ask us to inhale and exhale.”

That’s the extent of their support.

Real reform looks like:

• Transparent layoff policies

• Pre-emptive counselling access

• Legal protections during retrenchment

• Job placement support

Mental health cannot be an afterthought — it must be part of the layoff protocol itself.

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7. Policy Intervention is Urgent

This is where the government steps in.

We must:

• Strengthen labour laws to protect early-career employees

• Mandate mental health support as part of HR compliance

• Incentivise companies to build real, robust support systems

• Launch a national youth mental health mission tied to employment stress

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8. India’s Demographic Dividend Is at Risk

We talk of becoming a global tech hub, but ignore the very minds that build it.

India’s youth is not a commodity. It is a strategic national asset.

If we want to harness our demographic advantage, we must ensure:

• Jobs with dignity

• Workplaces with empathy

• Systems that treat mental health as important as physical health

Because a nation’s real growth isn’t just in exports — it is in the mental strength of its next generation.

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Conclusion: Let Us Lead with Courage, Not Corporate Convenience

To every young professional out there:

You are more than your job title. You are not weak. You are not alone.

Let’s stop treating layoffs like numbers.

Let’s stop treating stress like weakness.

Let’s start treating mental health as policy priority.

We need workplaces where:

✅ Layoffs don’t break people

✅ Women don’t carry double burdens

✅ Youth don’t suffer silently

✅ Mental health is respected, not hidden

Let this be the decade where India doesn’t just build apps, but also builds empathy.

— Suryavanshi IAS

Public Service | Youth Reforms | Nation First