IT, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech Startups Have Highest Hiring Intent in 2023, Says Survey

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in its Startup Hiring Trends survey has stated that IT, agri-tech, artificial intelligence, fintech and manufacturing are among the industries with the highest hiring intent.

According to the 2023 Startup Hiring Trends survey conducted by FICCI in partnership with Randstad India, 80% of early-stage startups (those with fewer than 20 employees) are actively seeking to expand their workforce in 2023. Over 300 startups participated in the survey. Additionally, 92% of these startups stated that new project orders, additional funding from investors and expansion strategies will drive their hiring decisions.

In a discussion about the survey, Dr Anita Gupta, Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Department of Science and Technology, stated that around 48% startups are based out of Tier 2 and 3 cities, which shows that they are fuelling the local ecosystem. “Now the trend is that you name a sector and you will find a startup. There could be a larger contribution by the startups in terms of employment,” she said.

According to the survey, agriculture or agritech, AI, machine learning, automotive and e-commerce or delivery services are expected to increase hiring by 11-20%, while startups in aerospace & defence, energy and healthcare are expected to increase hiring by more than 30%.

More specifically, the survey noted that healthcare (13%), IT/ITes (10%), agri/agritech (8%), AI/ML/DeepTech (7%), Fintech (7%), and Manufacturing (7%), are the industries with the greatest hiring intent.

All these hirings will primarily take place at the junior and mid-level levels, and around 37% startups have stated that they intend to hire more junior-level employees, while slightly over 27% of respondents intend to hire more mid-level employees.

The survey also stated that while Hyderabad and Pune are emerging as regions with a strong desire to fill senior-level positions, in terms of middle-level, hiring is common in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, and Delhi/NCR.

However, Jeet Vijay, CEO of Startup Hub, Ministry of Electronics and IT, said in a panel discussion that majority of India lives in small cities and towns, which are most affected by unemployment and that’s where the focus should be.

“Every government initiative now is focused more on how do you enable the resources in these cities so that employment can be created over there. MeitY is also coming up with Genesis which is focused on funding startups in Tier 2 and 3 cities or the emerging towns in India,” he said.

He further stated that it is going to be a Rs 4,90 crore project and the government will fund startups from small cities only. According to Vijay, because of this initiative, the startups don’t have to shift to big cities to get funded or relocate to have access to the ecosystem.

“A lot of these startups if they are working from small towns and cities, will develop solutions which will solve local issues and employ local people. Also, to serve these firms local vendor ecosystem will develop,” Vijay noted.

ChatGPT and its implications on the job market also came up for discussion.

Viswanath PS, MD & CEO of Randstad India Private Limited, said: “Technology helps in terms of making the recruitment process more efficient and recruiters can use AI or ML to deal with high volume operations especially when you are hiring in large numbers. It also plays a role in promoting employee engagement.”

“Around 88% of businesses worldwide are already using AI and as far as ChatGPT is concerned, people can use this to develop job descriptions, productive interview questions and also for improving effective communication. So I think technology is an enabler, but at the same time, human connection is equally important,” he added.

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