Around 80% of early-stage startups currently having less than 20 employees on their payroll are looking to expand their workforce this year, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry said in a report jointly published with recruitment agency Randstad India.
Bucking the layoffs trend, the survey found that these are the new-age companies that have raised money in Series A and B funding rounds and are well capitalised to execute their hiring plans.
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Further, a staggering 92% of the 300 startups polled said that the optimism around their hiring decisions was primarily driven by new project orders they bagged, the additional funding they raised and the expansion plans companies had in store.
While starups in sectors like agri/agritech, automotive and e-commerce/delivery services are expected to increase their head count in the 11-20% range, others in aerospace and defence, energy and healthcare are likely to increase their recruitment activities by over 30%.
Some in like fintech and manufacturing sectors are expected to post a 7% increase in hiring efforts, the survey found.
“Randstad’s exclusive survey in association with FICCI reveals that a majority of early-stage startups are exhibiting strong hiring intentions, which is a testament to the strength of India’s diverse talent pool that’s available in the job market today,” said Viswanath PS, MD and CEO of Randstad India.
The poll found that hiring will primarily take place at the junior and mid-levels. “With their pan-India footprint, startups create jobs and economic opportunities beyond just the top cities and are key partners in India’s growth story,” said Rohit Bansal, chairman of the FICCI start-up committee.
The findings come at a time when tech companies around the world have fired over 1,50,000 employees this year as valuations corrected in the sector, according to data from layoffs.fyi.
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The latest poll findings line up with a broader turnaround in the Indian startups space, where a clutch of late-stage companies like Zomato and Byjus have now said they will be hiring more talent, after firing hundreds of employees.
In a competitive job market, the survey found that about 57.3% of the early-stage companies polled believed that offering the employee stock ownership plan to the new staff has proven to be an effective instrument for retaining staffers.
Taking a cue, 41.5% of the surveyed startups said they have already implemented it as a retention strategy.
