According to data shared by Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, 100 to 120 CXOs are likely to be hired by these 130 unicorns and soonicorns against 50 in 2021. For this survey, Xpheno mapped 400 CXOs across the 75 unicorns and over 50 soonicorns and captured their professional profiles to identify the onboarding time for their current roles.
“CXO hiring in 2022 by Indian unicorns and soonicorns will be driven by heightened IPO aspirations, amplified investor interest and deployment of capital received in 2021,” said Xpheno cofounder Kamal Karanth.
Among the unicorns and soonicorns, companies such as Meesho, Licious, DealShare, Games24x7, Good Glamm and Byju’s are all hiring leaders. For instance, Meesho is hiring at least three CXOs for new businesses and divisions this year, chief human resources officer (CHRO) Ashish Kumar Singh told ET.
“As the company scales, hiring for leadership positions becomes crucial,” he said. The company has about a dozen people in leadership positions.
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Top talent search firms such as Korn Ferry and Transearch have also seen a 100% jump in search mandates from unicorns and soonicorns over the past few months.
Hiring by matured startups in the digital and ecommerce space is on fire, said Navnit Singh, chairman and regional managing director, Korn Ferry India.
It’s a war for top talent as the pool is restricted. This is due to more funds being pumped into these companies. As a result, almost all have big expansion plans, said experts.
Employee stock options continue to be a popular tool to attract talent.
“Through periodic Esop liquidations, we have both attracted and retained top talent from the market,” said Singh of Meesho. Like most unicorns and startups, DealShare is attracting top talent with high compensation packages leaning more towards Esops.
Most companies are willing to offer attractive Esops which can go up to Rs 8 crore along with base package of Rs 2.5-4 crore per annum, according to the Xpheno survey.
Social commerce platform DealShare is planning to hire aCHRO, CFO and CTO in the coming months, said a company official in an emailed response.
Top talent crunch
At Games24x7, a key recent addition to the company’s leadership team is the new chief technology officer.
“We currently have a few new businesses and verticals in the pipeline, and we will be hiring P&L heads for these,” said Vikrant Goyal, vice president, HR, Games24x7. “We plan to hire at least two more CXOs by the end of this year.” The crunch in top talent has stretched the hiring time, Goyal said.
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