As companies around the world accelerate automation and adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools, layoffs have shifted from speculation to reality. Thousands of professionals who once considered their careers stable are now navigating sudden unemployment.
The scale is significant. Layoffs.fyi data shows that 97 technology companies eliminated over 81,000 roles globally in the first quarter of 2026 alone. In March, Oracle announced 30,000 job cuts worldwide, with a third of those roles based in India. Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce have also announced reductions this year.
Closer home, Tata Consultancy Services laid off 12,000 employees in fiscal 2026, while startups Livspace, Flipkart, and Zupee together cut around 1,700 jobs between January and March.
Mint spoke to individuals who were recently laid off to understand how prepared they were and what that preparation meant when the news finally came.
When numbers turn personal
Behind these numbers lies a more personal crisis. A widely reported viral video on social media recently highlighted this through the story of a Noida-based IT professional, shared by a friend, who once earned ₹40 lakh annually and now rides for Rapido to meet a ₹95,000 monthly EMI on a ₹1.4 crore flat purchased in 2024. Mint couldn’t independently verify the incident.
A 35-year-old, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, lost his sales job at a startup two months ago, pointed to another challenge: “In India, leaving a company in around 1-1.5 years is still considered taboo,” he said, noting that he was laid off due to “organizational changes”. “No one looks at the kind of work you were doing—companies want to know if you were able to stick with an organization.”
Originally from Delhi, he had moved to Kochi with his family for this role. Moving back is not an option because of his financial situation. “I started delivering for Blinkit just to stay active,” he said. Now at risk of missing the EMI on his Delhi home, he is considering selling it to open a food stall in Kochi.
For many salaried employees, his situation feels uncomfortably familiar: a single missed paycheck can disrupt an otherwise carefully balanced financial life.
A 2023 survey by Finology found that 75% of Indians did not have an emergency fund. The person mentioned above said his house purchase was planned, and he had some investments in gold for difficult times, but mental stress and external factors pushed him into a hand-to-mouth situation.
What preparing means
Hyderabad-based Amit Kumar, with 18 years of experience, left his previous job in October 2025 due to a toxic work culture. However, finding a new role has been difficult amid IT hiring freezes.
“I had expected such days, so I purchased a budget flat and closed the EMI within five years,” he said.
He estimates his yearly expenses at ₹9-10 lakh and has three months of expenses in a savings account, one year in a debt liquid fund, and five years in fixed deposits. While he has cut discretionary spending, such as travel and luxury expenses, his emergency fund has helped him maintain his standard of living while he searches for income.
Chennai-based Rajaram Surianarayanan, who was laid off from a real-money gaming company after the policy change, said he was better prepared this time.
“I was lucky to be part of the second round of layoffs, so I had already started consulting work,” he said. “The severance package also helped.”
Having learned from a previous layoff before the pandemic, he had set aside a three-month buffer by saving 20% of his income. With consulting income and severance, he extended that buffer to 12 months.
“One thing that helped me is that I don’t have any loans or EMIs—otherwise I would have been in shambles,” he added.
EMIs become difficult
In his latest book Breakpoint, Saurabh Mukherjea, founder and chief investment officer, of Marcellus Investment Managers, revealed that nearly 40% of annual income for borrowers goes towards repayments as effective interest rates outpace the income growth.
Harsh Grover, co-founder of LoansJagat, a digital loan aggregator and debt consolidation marketplace, said when borrowers face sudden income loss, repayment behaviour changes quickly. EMIs often get deprioritized as households shift focus to essential expenses and cash preservation—especially in unsecured credit like personal loans and credit cards.
“As repayment pressure increases, some individuals attempt to reorganize liabilities through refinancing or consolidation,” he said. “But limited access to emergency buffers often leads to reactive rather than planned decisions.”
Rethinking the emergency fund
Even as statistics show that the majority of households do not maintain an emergency buffer, the thumb rule has always been to keep at least six months of expenses in an emergency fund. But according to Suresh Sadagopan, founder of Ladder7 Financial Advisories, the thumb rule needs a review, given the environment marked by geopolitical uncertainty and the rise of AI.
“No sector is secure,” he said, recommending that emergency funds be increased from the traditional three-six months to at least one year or more.
In cases where such a fund does not exist, he suggested setting aside money from existing investments if a layoff seems imminent. This should be based on realistic estimates of how long it may take to find a new job and should be separate from funds meant for medical emergencies or long-term goals.
Anshi Shrivastava, qualified financial advisor and personal finance trainer at 1 Finance, noted that the ideal emergency fund should cover six months of expenses—not income. However, many individuals fall short due to rising living costs, lifestyle inflation, and prioritizing immediate spending or debt repayment.
She recommends automating savings, cutting discretionary expenses, and directing windfalls, such as bonuses, into an emergency fund. In the event of a layoff, she advises carefully evaluating liquid assets and avoiding panic decisions, such as premature withdrawals from long-term investments, which may incur penalties or taxes.
Surya Bhatia, certified financial planner at Asset Managers, said that while layoffs due to AI have become a stark reality, it is logical to create an emergency fund at all times, especially amid the current situation, because it is difficult to ascertain which sector may be impacted and how. Ideally, one should have six months of their cash flows not necessarily in a bank account, but in a low-risk, high-liquidity instrument.
However, the six-month corpus can vary after taking into consideration the family background and how insulated the sector is, he said, and added that this should be a part of one’s goal-based planning where liquidity is paramount. He further said that people who are just starting off can allocate higher amounts from their income initially and gradually slow down.
Vishal Dhawan, certified financial planner and co-founder of Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors, said there is no one-size-fits-all approach to emergency funds. The ideal size depends on factors such as whether a household has single or dual incomes. Tax brackets also matter when deciding where to park the fund—fixed deposits may suit those in lower tax brackets, while arbitrage funds can be more efficient for those in higher brackets.
However, he cautioned against being overly conservative, as excessive allocation to emergency fund can hinder long-term wealth creation. In the event of a layoff, he also advised reviewing health insurance, since employer-provided coverage typically ends on the last working day.
Overall, as layoffs become more frequent and less predictable, financial preparedness, especially maintaining an appropriate emergency fund, is no longer optional but is essential.