If you’re in your early 40s and working a corporate job, the countdown may have already begun, because companies are quietly deciding that your retirement age isn’t 60. It’s 45.
Investment advisor A K Mandhan has sparked concern across India’s professional circles with a blunt assessment of the corporate layoff trend: “The retirement age in large corporates is not 60… it is between 42 to 45.”
According to him, senior employees are being labeled “payroll cholesterol” and shown the door—not for performance, but for cost.
This isn’t an isolated observation. Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers, has been sounding similar alarms. Citing a wave of automation and cost-cutting across sectors like IT, finance, and consulting, he warns that India is witnessing the “death of salaried employment” as a secure long-term path.
AI and lean business models are replacing not just entry-level roles but also middle managers—the very people in the 42–45 age group.
“You’ve got 10 million graduates coming in every year and fewer jobs at the bottom. But companies are also cutting the middle,” Mukherjea explains. For those in mid-career positions, that means fewer options, no job security, and a brutal market if laid off.
Mandhan’s message is clear: if you’re in this age bracket and don’t have passive income—rental property, investments, or the ability to run your own business—your family is at serious financial risk. A pink slip at 45 could mean an early, unplanned, and unfunded retirement.
Mukherjea urges Indian families to rethink the “graduate and get a job” formula entirely. “The jobs won’t be there,” he says. Building self-reliance through entrepreneurship and investment is no longer a choice—it’s survival planning.
