I used to work in a start up in Bangalore, they overhired in 2022 and overpaid the freshers, more than the experienced engineers were getting paid.
To fix this put 30% of workforce on pip, laid off 20% I was one of them. 2 months later, they did open layoffs, did it again in 2 months, and one of my friends there heard the founders cracking a laugh that even the investors wouldn't have expected us to do this so fast.
I joined another company, they lost the client I was hired for, and few more clients, I was told they will have to do layoffs and my name is in the list. So they asked me to resign and I refused by saying we'll consider a last working day, if I get an offer I'll resign otherwise anyway I'll have to be laid off and they agreed. This happened one month after I had joined this company ( also a startup ).
So, being laid off once was already a big enough punch of reality, with an education loan on my head.
I joined another company and got laid off again. Tough shit.
I ended up getting an offer before my lwd.
I am not from any IIT, I am not an exceptional engineer. I am very bad interviews, my resume usually doesn't get shortlisted.
Sheer volume of effort I put made the impact on me getting a job.
Right now I am the best job of my career, with a better management.
Trying to say, it's a tough time. But you'll get through it.