Does life start at 40? Here's why Indian companies need to change the way they think about hiring

Dipika Singh

Dipika Singh was in her late 30s when she decided to make her passion project a full-time career. At 39, she did not want to look for a job, but she had not planned a career path either. This moment of crisis, which countless mid-career professionals face, often feels like a full stop. Yet, for Dipika, it became the essential catalyst for her life's best work.

She took the terrifying leap into entrepreneurship. "I initially floundered before realising my core competencies," she recalls. The skills that saved her weren't technical jargon or trendy certifications; they were simple, battle-tested human strengths. "I was good at speaking and writing," she says. By focusing on honing those transferable skills, she built a successful career as a learning facilitator. Eventually, at 50, she founded She Means Business. She asserts, "I 100 per cent think that I am now doing my best work."

Singh's story is not an outlier; it is backed by compelling science.

Sheena Sood

The common assumption that our cognitive prime is in our 20s is being aggressively debunked by scientific research. According to the study Humans Peak in Midlife conducted by Gilles E Gignac, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Western Australia, the 30s and 40s are not a plateau but a powerful peak of mental mastery.

Another study by researchers at the University of Cambridge, involving thousands of brain scans, revealed that the brain stays in the adolescent phase until our early thirties. We peak around the age of 32 and enter adulthood at 33.

This physiological reality provides the perfect backing for Singh's later success. As we age, our brains become masters of efficiency, a process Consultant in Psychology at PD Hinduja Hospital & MRC, Sheena Sood, calls neuroplasticity or the brain's ability to adapt and change.

Priya Jain, Anshu Patni and Aarushi Khare

Sood is unequivocal about the benefits that surface in the mid-career stage. She says, "Thirty to fifty years of age is great for peak emotional stability and pattern recognition."

Emotional stability is what allows for calm, steady leadership and complex decision-making, while pattern recognition, developed through decades of experience, is the core of strategy and foresight.

These are the critical, experience-based strengths that Singh carried into her career pivot. And, these are precisely what companies lose when they focus only on hiring young talent.

For many, the mid-30s spark a profound shift from hustle to meaning. Anshu Patni, 42, an executive and personal branding coach, views this age not as a crisis, but a search for substance.

"Women after 35 begin looking for things which are more solid," Patni observes. This clarity gives them the power to "cut the bullshit and ask fundamental questions about the value of their efforts. They start questioning the hustle. Especially Indian women who have been hustling, but now feel they want other things in life as well."

Even those at the peak of their professional game suffer the consequences. Patni highlights the pervasive imposter syndrome among senior clients. "They may be the CEO, but they still have issues or doubts on how to build their personal brand," she says.

For Patni, the takeaway is clear: Individuals must learn to invest in themselves in their 20s and 30s, and embrace coaching to harness their powerful new phase of life.

Career coach and founder of Bare Becoming, Aarushi Khare, notes a key difference in how mature professionals approach change: "You are not driven by emotions in your 30s." Khare advises clients considering a switch for emotional reasons to first explore options internally, but recognises the reality of making a strategic move. She cautions that the only major cost of transitioning between careers is stability.

If mid-career professionals are hitting their peak in competence and clarity, why does the job market often sideline them?

Khare states the obvious, "The reason for young hires is because it's cheaper." The answer, according to Shweta Sikchi, founder of Nexora HR Consulting, is inertia.
Sikchi adds that hiring systems are still designed to measure early-career signals. "Mid-career professionals (30+) are often undervalued, not because their strengths are irrelevant, but because hiring systems are built around a ‘fresh talent' narrative," she explains. These systems "still reward early-career signals like speed, certifications, polished delivery; rather than the judgment, clarity, problem-solving depth, and conflict navigation that typically strengthen after 30."

This oversight leads to a short-term vision. Singh argues that neglecting this demographic results in "losing experience, vision, ability to strategise, and ability to see long term. Companies risk working in a very short-term vision kind of approach."

Milind, 42, a project lead in the BFSI sector, felt this bias firsthand. After a business venture failed at 35, he re-entered the corporate world in his late 30s simply for pay stability. His decision was entirely strategic: "All the focus is on money. And, of course, I get to take holidays in a planned manner."

His return meant accepting a position where he is still fighting to prove himself despite a long career. And, his current manager is his college junior. "The position I am at right now, people usually get here after 8 to 10 years. I am at this stage despite a 20-year career," he says.

The professional awkwardness is tangible. "A person who is two levels higher than me gets conscious but things like this happen. I will say that I feel underutilised here." Milind's resilience stems from his mid-career superpower: "You can prove yourself because you pick things up quicker, you don't turn away from responsibility, and you are open to spending more hours at work," he asserts.

Sikchi points out that the pandemic caused a shift in corporate thinking. "When work became unpredictable, organisations relied heavily on people who could operate without constant supervision, manage ambiguity, and make stable decisions. These are all qualities that typically come with experience." The balance, she concludes, is changing; "Youth brings energy, but experience now carries clearer strategic value."

While the 30s and 40s represent a peak, adaptation remains crucial. Priya Jain (35), a founder of Three Cats & Co, struggles with communication differences with her younger team. "It's mostly on WhatsApp, and it's just one or two lines," she notes, forcing her to schedule calls just to understand their intent. She also admits to the persistent anxiety about technology: "I struggle; I feel that in some time I might not understand technology as well, also because every day there's a new thing happening."

This confirms that obsolescence is not about age but a failure to evolve. It's time to move beyond the narrative of early retirement. As Patni puts it, "It's about learning to invest in yourself and stopping the habit of hustling for the wrong reasons."

As Singh found, her later-career success comes from two things: knowing herself better and the cumulative effect of her past jobs. "Everything up till now has added up to learning knowledge," she says. For those considering a career switch, she advises, "If it is scaring you, do this exercise of figuring out your skills, figuring out your transferable skills, figuring out your network."

30
Age after which qualities like judgment, clarity, problem-solving depth, and conflict navigation strengthen