Anupam Mittal calls out 'career gurus' shaming Gen Z for switching jobs, triggers wider conversation

However, Anupam Mittal also cautioned against treating frequent job changes as a permanent approach.

Anupam Mittal, founder and chief executive officer of Shaadi.com, and a judge on "Shark Tank India", has sparked discussion on social media after commenting on the growing criticism faced by Gen Z professionals for frequently changing jobs in the early stages of their careers.

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Mittal questioned the tendency of what he described as “career gurus” to criticise young professionals in their early twenties for switching roles often. “Let’s stop shaming GenZ for switching jobs,” he wrote, adding that he regularly sees 22-year-olds being called out for moving companies every year.

Mittalargued that such career movement can play a constructive role at the start of a professional journey. He said that early employment years are typically a period of exploration, during which individuals are still identifying their interests and preferences. According to him, young professionals are effectively testing different industries, functions and workplace environments to determine where they fit best.

“If you not feeling it, move. Don’t feel bad about it. This is the time to explore,” he said, adding that there should be no guilt attached to leaving roles that do not align with personal or professional goals at that stage.

However, Mittal also cautioned against treating frequent job changes as a permanent approach. Referring to this shift in tone as a “big but”, he said that once individuals find a direction that suits them, consistency becomes critical. He noted that during recruitment for senior leadership or what he described as “Level 1” roles, he almost always dismisses resumes that do not include at least one sustained tenure of four to five years.

Explaining this position, Mittal said that the outcomes of professional decisions often take time to become visible. “Usually, one cannot see the consequences of their own decisions in 12 months,” he wrote. He outlined a progression in which the first year is largely devoted to learning, the second to execution, and the third to managing the outcomes of earlier decisions while expanding successful initiatives.

Mittal also shared a suggested framework for career planning based on age. He proposed that individuals between the ages of 21 and 24 should actively explore different opportunities and switch roles if required. From the age of 25 onwards, he said, professionals should aim to commit to an organisation for at least four years.

“If you want to be a Founder or a CEO, you need to prove you can stay in the kitchen when it gets hot,” he wrote. He added that while understanding a specific role may take about a year, gaining a meaningful grasp of an entire industry generally requires between three and five years.

The post prompted varied responses from LinkedIn users, many of whom shared personal reflections. One user said they had resigned on the same day after realising they had not given themselves sufficient time to explore what kind of work environment suited them best, adding that building something independently felt like the right decision.

"Job switching isn’t the issue. Avoiding depth is. Exploration in the early 20s is healthy—it builds pattern recognition across roles, cultures, and industries. But leadership is forged only when someone stays long enough to live with second- and third-order consequences of their decisions. Speed helps you discover fit. Commitment proves capability. The market doesn’t reward movement alone—it rewards compounded judgment," another user added.

Another commenter said the post addressed a gap in common career advice, stating that early movement can support learning, but staying long enough to experience outcomes is essential for growth and leadership development. "This nails the nuance most career advice misses movement early is learning, but staying long enough to see outcomes is where real growth and leadership are forged," a third user noted.