Bounce Back With Vigour, Armed With New Skill, Says Veteran Banker Arundhati Bhattacharya On Working After Retirement

Layoffs at times tend to be a natural part of businesses adapting to market shifts, veteran banker and top boss of Salesforce South Asia Arundhati Bhattacharya said on Tuesday, urging individuals to embrace and learn new skills with vigour, and not be daunted by changes.

Reflecting on her personal journey, Bhattacharya recounted that while her father after retiring at the age of 58 decided against further pursuits, she embraced new career avenues well past that age.

"My father retired at 58, he had already run out of energy for doing anything else. I am 12 years older than him now, and I have found a career for myself," Bhattacharya told reporters at an event.

It is pertinent to mention that Bhattacharya smashed the glass ceiling in 2013 when she became the first woman to lead State Bank of India (SBI) in the bank's over 200-year history. She retired from SBI in 2017 and went on to reinvent herself with a brand new career innings at the helm of cloud-based service provider Salesforce India in 2020, as Chairperson and CEO.

Conferred with Padma Shri for her exceptional contributions to the field of trade and industry, Bhattacharya is currently President and CEO of Salesforce South Asia.

Bhattacharya believes that India has an edge as people here are open to managing change and reskilling themselves in a way that is unmatched.

Asked about the layoffs in the industry despite massive AI training drive, she said layoffs are a natural part of organisational change as companies, both traditional and new-age, reshape to adapt to market cycles.

Bhattacharya encouraged individuals to respond with renewed energy and openness to change, highlighting that careers can evolve drastically over time.

"If you want to say there shouldn't be any layoffs at all, it doesn't work like that. You (companies) may be laying off some people in certain sunset areas and you may be recruiting in some other areas... it happens all the time," she said, adding that such shifts are as prevalent in traditional industries as they are in new-age ones.

Her mantra: Bounce back with vigour, armed with new skills.

"It doesn't mean end of the story, you have to reshape, very often learn, unlearning, relearn, you have to apply yourself and find the best way," she said.

Bhattacharya added, "People have to be more open to doing new things, to change, open to the various kinds of vicissitude you see in economy and market. Unless you have openness of accepting what is coming your way and learning afresh, it is not going to be easy."