After a round of layoffs, Indian startups are expected to increase hiring by more than 10% this year over last year, according to a talent platform.
Layoffs are also down year over year: Companies fired 3,600 employees in the first five months of the year (January through June), down 62% from 9,596 in the same period last year.
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
For all of 2023, there were 16,398 layoffs, according to Layoffs.fyi.
The startup sector is recovering with nearly 40% increase in new startups, which in turn led to a 15% increase in new jobs, said Sachin Arugu, CEO of human resources solutions firm NLB Services.
“Employment has grown by an average of 9-10 per cent in the past few quarters. Considering that, we expect better hiring prospects from employers in the coming months, especially with the upcoming festival season,” he said.
Startup funding in the first half of 2024 (H1) showed an upward trend compared to the second half of 2023 (H2). According to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn, funding in the first half of 2024 fell 13% year-over-year, but startups raised $4.1 billion, up 4% from $3.96 billion in the second half of 2023.
In line with the fundraising trend, some of the country’s leading startups are planning to ramp up hiring for the second half of the year.
Quick commerce unicorn Zepto plans to expand its employee base after raising $665 million in Series F funding last week.
“We plan to hire 400-500 people by March 2025, focusing on engineering, product, category, growth and marketing roles. Our team is 1,600 strong,” Zepto CEO Ardit Paricha told Business Standard.
Other companies, such as e-commerce major Meesho, have also reported job gains.
“In the last six months, we have expanded our team and added 300+ experienced professionals and 150 campus hires from the 2024 batch across roles including analytics, technology, business, finance, product & design, and fulfilment & experience. We will continue to hire for key roles, especially from the 2025 batch,” said Ashish Kumar Singh, chief people officer, Meesho.
Industry watchers say hiring enthusiasm is relatively optimistic among start-ups, especially in the technology and emerging sectors, despite cautiousness in certain sectors such as information technology.
“Established startup pioneers, unicorns and snikorns (soon-to-be unicorns) continue to be aggressive in hiring. These companies are expected to lead the startups in hiring volumes, especially for strategy and executive roles, as they need to support large-scale operations and market expansion,” said Krishna Gautam, head of operations (direct hiring) at boutique recruitment firm Xpheno.
On the other hand, small and medium sized startups are more focused on hiring based on short-term tactical requirements rather than long-term strategic talent requirements, Gautam added.
Neeti Sharma, CEO of recruitment firm Teamlease Digital, said: “Unlike large IT and tech companies, which are reluctant to hire fresh graduates, startups are prioritising hiring new talent, with around 60% of their hires being freshers. We expect a slight increase in hiring in the second half of 2024, with around 60% of startup vacancies being filled by entry-level candidates with 0-3 years of experience.”
In any case, non-tech sectors are known to bounce back as the year-end festivities approach. From July to December last year, there was a significant increase in talent demand in these sectors.
“Sections such as retail, e-commerce, travel, hospitality, consumer services, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), fintech, electric vehicles, media, advertising, logistics and supply chain are some of the non-technology sectors to watch in the second half of the year,” Gautam said.
