Talent influx is on the rise but there are less takers; recruitment in startups drops by 50%

Recruitment in Indian startups has slowed down as the businesses are concentrating more on securing funds, posting profits and scaling up operations.

The hiring has dropped by 10-50% in many of the startups, even as talent influx is on the rise.

Recruitment in logistics, grocery and food delivery companies have slowed down and many employees are also being fired.

"We were getting about 100 requisitions a month from startups for senior and midlevel hiring 12 months ago. Today, we get a maximum of 30-40,” Joseph Devasia, managing director for India at Antal International, which works with more than 50 startups, told ET.

"With investors now asking companies to focus on profits and cut down on spends, hiring managers are more cautious,” Thammaiah BN, managing director at Kelly Services, told ET.

Meanwhile, even as various startups want to hire senior level executives to enhance operations, the plan gets scrapped during the board meetings.

Recently, Snapdeal handed over pink slips to employees in a bid to rationalise its operations.

Amid the hiring gloom, one of the sectors which is flourishing is fintech. The financial-technology startups are hiring due to India’s digital economy push.

"We are seeing more open positions in startups in the financial technology services sector post demonetisation across all three levels- senior, mid and entry,” Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder of staffing firm TeamLease Services, told ET, adding “these companies are expanding aggressively and job requirements have almost tripled.”