- Rudrapratap Basumitray, marketing communications head with a middle-rung software solutions firm, was handed the pink slip four months ago. He was told the company was downsizing because of poor business prospects in India. Till date, 42-year-old Basumitray has been unable to get another job. After the first month, he felt his Rs 80,000 plus monthly pay packet was working against him. So he called up his headhunters and told them he was willing to take a salary cut. But their curt response was: "It's not your salary but your age that's on the wrong side."
- Last July, Anandamoy Karmanjee, a 47-year-old business journalist and resident editor in a north Indian town for a leading national daily, decided to return to Delhi for personal reasons. His firm was unwilling to relocate him, so he quit. And for six months, searched in vain for a job in Delhi. Finally, he settled for a PR assignment with a small agency. This is what the management in his earlier job told him: "Look at our business editor in Delhi. He's not even 30. Young talent's serving the same purpose as experience. So why hire seniors?"
- Thirteen months ago, seniors took Suprabuddha Singh, Delhi head of a leading ad agency, to task for what they called failing to garner more business. Singh, with more than 16 years of experience in running agencies, had a serious showdown and called it splits. He, along with two of his associates, formed a brand tracking firm and looked for business. It has been nearly a year and the firm is floundering. Singh's efforts to pick up another job have—till date—met with a strict no no. Why? Almost all agencies he tried sent him a terse message: "Your age is wrong and clients today are not looking for veterans to understand the market."
The Times of India
(Names have been changed to protect identities.)
