If the entire economy is structured around the expectation of low interest rates, then raising interest rates would certainly upset a lot of plans. Many businesses would find they could not afford to employ as many people as expected. Many employees would find not only that they had lost their jobs, but also wasted many years training for a job that no longer exists.

Those who invested in affected businesses or capital goods with inflated prices due to easy credit will find those investments collapsing in value.

Eventually, the economy could restructure into a more sustainable form, where investments, business sizes and training were aligned with the new state of the economy. But a pain period is not really avoidable, other than by relowering interest rates. The longer interest rates are kept low, the longer and more painful the transition.