Former Deloitte employee, earning Rs 76 lakh salary was happy after being laid off, says 'I felt anything but normal at...'

A former Deloitte employee has revealed that she is actually "happy" to have been laid off from the multinational consulting firm. The woman, who earned a substantial salary of Rs 76 lakh per annum, claims that the high-paying job was not worth the stress and pressure it entailed.

"I felt anything but normal at Deloitte," 24-year-old actuarial analyst with Deloitte in Chicago, Cierra Desmaratti told Business Insider. "I felt like I had to dim my personality to fit in with my peers and struggled to hit my stride in the consulting firm's fast-paced hustle culture. Then I got laid off. It was a dark time, but it ultimately made me realise what I deserve from my career."

Desmaratti emphatically stated that she never felt like she belonged at the company. She joined Deloitte in September 2022 with 80 to 90 other new hires. Noticing her peers in expensive suits and designer clothes, she felt out of place as she came from a low-income family. She mentioned that her T.J. Maxx clothes, which she once considered a splurge, now felt inadequate.

Desmaratti said she began working 11-hour days and started to feel unwell both mentally and physically, leading to burnout.

"My back ached from being glued to my seat all day, and I relied on snacks to power through stressful assignments. I gained 9 kg in just a few months and felt the most physically unhealthy I've ever been," she said.

When it came time for her performance review, her coach at Deloitte mentioned that she hadn’t performed well during the busy months. This surprised her because no one had pointed out any issues earlier. “I felt frustrated because I could have made improvements sooner if I had received that feedback,” Desmaratti said.

Just as she started working on improving her performance, she got a call from HR informing her that she was being laid off.

"When the call ended, my mind immediately went to the financial blow this would be. I didn't love my job, but my $90,000 (Rs 76 lakh) salary was my means of survival. I had two weeks' severance and a bit of money in savings, but I had no other job prospects," Desmaratti told Business Insider. "I cried myself to sleep that night and spent the next day frantically trying to log out of all the programs on my work computer."

After two months of job hunting, Desmaratti landed a remote position as an actuarial analyst with Transamerica. This new job gave her the work-life balance she had been looking for.

"My actuarial work at Transamerica is similar to that of Deloitte, but the company culture couldn't be more different. My superiors encourage me to leave work at work and I finally have time to nourish my hobbies and relationships," she told the publication. "I feel like I've finally come alive."