Sales and marketing leaders have emerged as the most hunted by India Inc. as companies across sectors look to strengthen their senior leadership at a time of rising competition. At the same time, hiring at middle and junior levels has quietened a fair bit.
A study by search firm Accord India, shared exclusively with Mint, pegs the growth in leadership hiring in the first six months of this year at 15% year-on-year. In January-June, 474 top-deck recruitments happened compared to 411 in the same period last year. Business head and chief operating officer (COO) appointments increased by 13%, while chief executive officer (CEO) hiring increased by 8%.
According to Sonal Agrawal, managing partner of Accord India, the spurt has come on the back of overall growth, new projects and expansion plans of companies, as well as leadership upgrades as companies evolve.
“For example, the increased number of initial public offerings (IPOs) caused an uptick in hiring of CFOs with fundraising, listing, investor relations and listed company experience,” Agrawal said.
So far this year, companies such as Emcure Pharma, Go Digit, Aadhar Housing Finance and Indegene have gone public and others such as Unicommerce, Ola Electric and FirstCry are in the process of listing.
One of the best years
Other search firms that look at CXO recruitment, too, say this has been one of their best years, with Korn Ferry pointing to a 15-20% increase in leadership hiring in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector in H1 of 2024.
“Amongst all profiles, independent directors and CEOs are at the top, followed by CXOs in marketing, risk and compliance,” said Monica Agrawal, managing director-financial services, Asia Pacific India lead—board and CEO services, for executive search firm Korn Ferry. The need for marketing leaders who understand how to build brands with younger clientele is very high amongst fintech firms, she added.
Over the past couple of years, there has been a surge in demand for independent directors. The demand for specialist directors is especially strong from medium- and small-scale enterprises and mid-tier firms willing to pay more for their expertise.
Another search firm, Michael Page, said its business saw a 27% uptick in leadership hiring in H1, with heads of sales and leads in tech-oriented global capability centres (GCCs) being most in demand.
“Startups who have raised Series A funding are looking out for tech and engineering heads while those who are on their C and D rounds want sales experts, having already built a robust tech product,” said Pranshu Upadhyay, regional director and India head—technology hiring, for Michael Page.
GCCs serving India well
A ramp-up in the number of GCCs is serving India well, creating jobs at a time when information technology IT services companies, India’s largest mass recruiter of fresher tech talent, are witnessing a slowdown, the 2024 Economic Survey said.
Citing data from audit and consulting firm PwC, the survey stated that by 2028, India may have 2,100 companies operating GCCs—up 31% from 2023. This could double the revenue earned by GCCs in India to $90 billion by 2028. The number of people employed by GCCs is also expected to more than double to 3.4 million in 2028 from around 1.6 million in 2023, the survey noted, citing PwC.
Hiring in the GCCs come at a time when the IT sector is yet to shrug off its macro-sluggishness. Headhunters noted that for all these positions, the compensation is above ₹1.5 crore, over which the executive gets stocks, long-term incentives and bonuses.
Meanwhile, the average compensation of a CEO has jumped 40% from pre-covid levels to ₹13.8 crore in 2024, according to the Deloitte India Executive Performance and Rewards Survey, released this April.
CEOs who earn ₹20 crore or more have doubled in number over the past four years in the survey base of 400 companies comprising both listed and unlisted companies across sectors.
In contrast, the average salary of junior executives is estimated to have grown at about half that rate over the same period.
But the upswing may plateau soon. “One has to take into account that there are many countries going into elections. Global uncertainties lead to new emerging opportunities and companies are carefully considering and pivoting their immediate leadership hiring plans accordingly,” Accord’s Agrawal pointed out.
To be sure, the shift towards hiring more leaders comes at a time when overall recruitment for the middle and junior levels is facing a quiet time. Companies across sectors have eased their campus intakes, adopting digital technology and bracing for the impact of artificial intelligence on job roles rather than going on a hiring binge.
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