New Delhi, Sept. 16 -- Six years ago, when Shamik Bhattacharya left a stable corporate job at Oracle for a startup, he thought he was trading predictability for creative freedom. Instead, he faced abrupt shocks-he was laid off twice through no fault of his own.

"The first startup shut down. The second was hit by an audit after financial misconduct by the founders. Each time I managed to land a job quickly, but the mental stress was overbearing," he said.

Now 36, Bhattacharya works with an Austria-based startup while pursuing an executive MBA from IIM Ahmedabad to strengthen his CV. But he worries about Europe's weak economy and the mid-30s squeeze, as employers are thinning middle managerial roles. "At my level, companies would rather h...