Small startups aim to expand in 2023 with 80% actively aiming to hire: Survey

Despite ongoing layoffs, early-stage startups with fewer than 20 employees are looking to expand their workforce in 2023, with 80% of such startups actively seeking to hire, the FICCI and Randstad India survey informed.

“Notably, these startups have secured Series A and Series B funding, are well-capitalised, and are actively seeking to hire new talent,” the report said. As many as 300 startups participated in the survey.

The survey revealed that for 92% of the startups, their hiring decisions will be influenced mainly by three factors: new project orders, increased funding from investors, and expansion plans.

According to the study, the majority of jobs that will be created are junior and mid-level positions. Around 38% of the surveyed companies expressed their intention to hire junior-level employees, while 27% said that they would focus on mid-level recruitment.

However, there are a few exceptions to this trend in the agri/agritech and automotive sectors, where companies are expected to prioritize senior-level C-suite hiring instead.

The survey revealed that high-growth startup companies are facing a significantly higher attrition rate compared to typical organizations. The attrition rate for these startups is estimated to be around 43.7%, which is approximately 1.7 times higher than that of regular organizations. 

“In our survey, 54.38 % of the startups attributed the high attrition rate to better pay packages by bigger corporates and fear of job security in a startup — besides lack of clarity in career progression clarity and credibility issues,” the FICCI survey said.