A glut of CVs in the job market from laid-off startup and e-commerce employees, and those looking to exit companies like Byju’s, is leading to a sharp reset of salaries from the stratospheric levels scaled in the post-Covid 2021-22 hiring frenzy.
Executive search and recruitment services firms ET spoke with said the ongoing funding winter, a hiring slowdown, layoffs, and regulatory troubles at some companies have made startup talent much more affordable.
While many employees of cash-strapped ed-tech firm Byju’s have been in the job market for a while now, troubles at Paytm after the central bank imposed curbs on its payments bank unit have made a number of its staffers jittery, driving them to explore other options.
Swiggy and Flipkart’s announcements of workforce cuts have also added to the supply of talent who were highly paid, recruiters said.
“A rationalisation of salaries is overdue post the last couple of years’ aberration of high funding and salaries. So, the downcycle will also be steeper,” said Anshuman Das, chief executive of Longhouse Consulting.
Anuj Roy, managing partner at executive search firm Fidius Advisory, said some of the people now available for hiring may not be affordable for early- or mid-stage startups at the salaries they were getting in their previous jobs.
“A lot of expensive talent are out looking for jobs. That makes it trickier for them to get opportunities,” Roy said. “The companies hiring in this market are mostly Series A, B, C startups. They won’t be able to afford these folks unless the latter recalibrate their expectations.”
Tech/product pros better off
While tech and product professionals have more takers and can move at flat or 10-15% lower salaries, many others are taking a 20-30% cut. Some are struggling to find jobs in the current environment.
“Tech folks are still holding on a little more, though even they are willing to forgo ESOPs (employee stock option plans). ESOPs won’t pay their EMIs,” said Joseph Devasia, managing director at Antal India. “GCCs (offshore centres of MNCs) are hiring from startups, but they can’t match those salaries.”
The overall situation in consumer internet right now is tough, but tougher if the candidate is in roles like HR, sales or marketing, said Ashish Sanganeria, senior partner at executive search firm Transearch.
Flood of CVs from Byju’s
“About 50-70 mid and senior-level employees of Byju’s have been reaching out to us for the last month or so, out of which nearly half would have been in the last week itself,” said Pranshu Upadhyay – regional director at Michael Page India.
The recruitment services firm has also started getting queries from Paytm after the RBI clampdown, he said. “These are very exploratory in nature because it’s not certain yet how this issue will play out. Some mid- and senior-level employees have been sharing their CVs and we’re enabling active discussions with them on options they can explore.”
At Byju’s, many employees have been trying to leave for a while, but with news of its valuation having been cut drastically, the urgency has escalated, said Aditya Narayan Mishra – CEO, CIEL HR Services.
CIEL HR has been inundated with CVs from not just mid-to-senior folks but junior employees too, he said. There’s double the activity from Byju’s employees on job portals like LinkedIn and Naukri, compared to even a month earlier, he added.
“It’s very hard to get a job at senior levels in this economy,” said the cofounder of an executive search firm who asked not to be named.
Stability above all
For professionals, job stability and company USP are now the most important points to consider while switching jobs, say recruiters. They’re also evaluating opportunities based on financial backing, value proposition, cash burn, runway, investors, etc.
“People are willing to take pay cuts, because moving in this economy is not easy. For most of them, joining a stable organisation trumps a salary hike,” CIEL HR’s Mishra said, adding: “We’re going to see a rationalisation of salaries across the board in the coming months.”
