Mid, senior level startup executives hunt for stable jobs

MUMBAI: Even as investors and sector experts point towards a funding revival for the startup ecosystem in the second half of the year, employees are not convinced. Several startup employees continue to ditch new-age firms for more stable companies, with the trend more visible among mid and senior-level employees.

In FY24, the percentage of CVs flowing in from startups to legacy companies, MNCs and even GCCs was 12-15% higher on a year-on-year basis, Viswanath PS, MD and CEO at Randstad India, told TOI. "This is considerable given that startups generally house smaller teams as compared to large organisations," Viswanath said.

A former Byju's employee working out of Mumbai said that he recently joined an IT firm even though it required him to move base to Bengaluru. "I was drawn to the stability, resources and network that an established IT firm can provide," the person said on condition of anonymity.

Employees, however, are not in a "mad rush" to move out of startups. While the mass exodus of staff the industry saw in the aftermath of the funding winter as well as the huge layoffs across companies - including in big unicorns - has stabilised to some extent, employees are on the lookout for better opportunities and are willing to move to safer pastures as and when they can, said Anshuman Das, CEO and founder at Longhouse Consulting.

"The attractiveness of the startup sector has eroded. The uncertainty associated with working in startups, the sudden rejig of business models, discontinuation of projects at companies and the resultant layoffs have been deterring candidates from taking up jobs at these companies. They are now more grounded in terms of their expectations and are keeping options for secure jobs open," added Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD & CEO, CIEL HR Services. This is in stark comparison to the past when the lure of higher pay packages and building innovative solutions often led job-seekers to opt for startups.

"The mid- and senior-level employees are looking to switch to larger and established companies with more structure. The age group of these employees also requires them to have more stability and balance in life to attend to familial responsibilities," said Viswanath. A recent survey by CIEL HR based on the analysis of over 1 lakh respondents working across 70 startups showed that 67% of startup employees are open to move to more established firms.

While deal activity in the startup ecosystem has picked up, late-stage funding needs to gain momentum for full revival of the sector.


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