The Layoff Fear That Never Packs a Lunch

Published on 1 October 2025 | Category: Career

Sometimes it doesn't feel like you're working in tech. Feels more like you're starring in a thriller with a constant plot twist: "Are they about to let me go next?"

Because this year too, big names have been doing the layoffs dance.

The Numbers Don't Lie

  • Accenture recently cut 11,000 positions worldwide.
  • TCS trimmed about 12,000 roles (2% of its workforce) in India.
  • Microsoft has slashed over 6,000 employees this year, followed by another 9,000 in a later round.
  • Across tech, more than 22,000 jobs have been eliminated so far in 2025.

So yes, in many offices right now, "layoff season" is no longer a rumor. It's almost an annual event.

The Pressure Cooker Life

You've got a family. They need attention. They need you.

But the office? It demands extra hours. It demands "taking initiatives outside your KRAs."

Meanwhile, you see colleagues who barely show up, or who work minimal, getting appraisals or promotions and you're left asking: "What am I missing?"

You hustle. You give. You push. But when review time comes:

  • The higher-up says, "You're doing well."
  • But no title change.
  • No better grade.
  • No recognition.

If you push harder, are you proving your worth or burying yourself deeper in burnout?

Why That Fear Isn't Paranoia

  • No one's safe, not even senior employees. Big firms have cut middle and senior roles.
  • Automate, reduce, restructure is the new playbook. If AI can replace parts of your job, that's one more "reason" to cut headcount.
  • "Skill mismatch" has become the polite euphemism for layoffs. Companies like TCS have already used it.
  • And some firms prefer "silent exits," pushing people to resign instead of showing layoffs on record.

How to Fight Back (Without Losing Sleep Entirely)

Make your contributions visible

Don't assume "my work will speak for itself." Publish monthly impact summaries. Send weekly highlights. Be your own press team.

Skill sideways and upward

Don't just deepen in your niche. Learn adjacent skills like automation, AI tool integration, or data analysis. Make yourself impossible to replace.

Build your fallback network

A trusted circle: recruiters, ex-colleagues, mentors. Not for panic calls, for awareness and options.

Mental prep over blind optimism

Accept layoffs can happen. But also prepare financially, upskill, and don't rely on loyalty as a safety net.

Fear of getting fired is not a sign of weakness. It's awareness of reality.

You're not being paranoid, maybe you're just reading the room.

The goal isn't to live in constant anxiety. The goal is to be so clearly valuable, so strategically visible, that letting you go would be the weirdest move any company could make.