longhouse consulting

New-economy companies in India have laid off over 28,000 employees in the first three quarters of 2023 as a result of major restructuring to conserve cash and prioritize essential operations. The layoffs have been significantly higher compared to the aggressive hiring seen in 2021.

ESOPs, an all-time favourite retention instrument among startups and e-commerce firms, are losing their magic to draw top talent.

Indian startups have seen over 4,500 job cuts since July last year, driven by a ban on online real-money gaming and a shift towards profitability. Investors now favor lean teams, with AI-first companies leading this trend. Companies are strategically hiring, focusing on essential roles and cost optimization, especially as some eye IPOs.

Startups like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Ola, Uber, Quikr, CommonFloor, Yepme are among the firms offering jobs with one-crore-plus salaries.

Senior candidates, in their 40s and 50s, are particularly reluctant, said recruiters, as they find that young founders often lack experience and maturity.

Startups are looking for senior executives to help them scale and expand, having attracted a rush of investors as they remain unscathed by the macroeconomic headwinds.

The advantages of such a move for these former founders and CEOs are many — there’s less risk than setting up their own ventures.

Across India's fast-growing Internet startups, gutsy entrepreneurs who deal with fractious customers and demanding investors are being faced with an inhouse dilemma.

There are clearly two trends at startups. One is that CXO salaries are falling and the other is that talent with crore-plus packages is shrinking by almost 50%

Paytm has laid off over 1,000 employees in an effort to reduce costs and realign its businesses. The job cuts, impacting at least 10% of Paytm's workforce, come after the company's withdrawal from small-ticket consumer lending and the 'buy now pay later' segment.

"Around 5% of the total transaction value is part of the ESOP pool. The employees will be paid within a year," said Amrish Rau, managing director, Citrus Pay.

Hiring has shot up in last 6-7 months, with nearly 350-400 plus senior hires across e-comm and startup ecosystem.

The once notable average salary growth has come down from the range of 50-100% to a more modest 35-40% for “hot skill” sets.

Besides Flipkart, other players like cab-hailing application Ola and mobile advertising firm InMobi have also generated liquidity for their employees.

An increasing number of Indian startup founders are stepping down due to personal and professional challenges, such as co-founder disagreements and funding constraints. The recent funding winter and competitive market pressures have exacerbated these exits, reflecting the broader maturation of the Indian startup ecosystem.

Rohit Bansal responded to Flipkart co-founder’s attack in a blog post on Friday where he suggested he had been quoted out of context.

Share buyback plan marks the largest such programme for Indian startup and offers stakeholders the biggest opportunity to liquidate their holdings in the company.

Share buyback plan marks the largest such programme for Indian startup and offers stakeholders the biggest opportunity to liquidate their holdings in the company.

The characteristics of a ‘good hire’ are never bound by any hard and fast rule, and is constantly evolving based on context and the position available.

This is particularly true for ecommerce, logistics, grocery and food delivery companies, typically large recruiters that have put a freeze on hiring.

Of its last 150 hires, 48 are women, with the ratio of women at the payments company now near 25%, including in the technology team.

At 28, Saumya Yadav was flourishing.Udayy, the edtech startup she’d started with two of her friends in 2020 as the pandemic sent all classrooms online, had scored $2.5 million in seed funding. It went on to raise $13 million in institutional capital, setting Saumya and her co-founders on the coveted unicorn path.

There hasn't been a better time for employees to choose between multinationals' restricted stock units (RSU) and the promise of India's digital companies.