As startups cut costs in funding winter, headhunters see flood of resumes

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

startups cut costs and lay off staff to adjust to a harsh funding winter, headhunters say they are seeing a flood of queries from nervous workers seeking a job elsewhere. Thousands of resumes are floating around, recruiters told ET. “We haven't seen this kind of influx of CVs for many years,” said Anuj Roy, managing partner at executive search firm Fidius Advisory.

“They are coming in not just from edtech but also commerce and digital media startups.” A 31-year-old employee at an edtech startup which has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs and been aggressively trying to reduce its cash burn, said that despite much talk about a turnaround, the situation at the firm has only been worsening.Also read | Over 17,000 Indian startup employees laid off in the first half of 2023 as funding winter refuses to thaw “We're seeing cases where our colleagues are coming in to work in the morning, being told they've been let go in the afternoon, and packing up and leaving in the evening,” he said. Almost everyone in the company is looking out, he said. “The founders' vision is not clear – confusion abounds about the way ahead.

Even the HR team has washed its hands off this mess,” he said. Roy of Fidius Advisory said those seeking a job change are even okay with a lower salary. “They are not even negotiating hard on designations when they do move,” he said.

Compounding the problem is the fact that there are also far fewer jobs in the market now. Ashish Sanganeria, senior partner at executive search firm Transearch, said that even at the CXO level, he’s getting 8-10 reachouts every week from edtech firms alone. “Funding was raised at crazy valuations, which startups aren't able to justify,” said Sanganeria.