HomeStartup NewsIndian startups hiring fewer senior staffers as gig workers muscle in: Razorpay report

Indian startups hiring fewer senior staffers as gig workers muscle in: Razorpay report

Indian startups have hiked payouts to existing employees but the gender gap yawns wider, the RazorpayX Payroll report added. Meanwhile, payments to gig workers have risen over 150%. The findings are from the analysis of payroll data from October 2021 to September 2022.

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By Nishtha Pandey  November 1, 2022, 8:01:43 PM IST (Updated)

3 Min Read
Indian startups hiring fewer senior staffers as gig workers muscle in: Razorpay report
The hiring trend in the startup ecosystem in India has changed significantly in the past few years. From layoffs to cost cutting, startups have been trying a lot of measures ahead of the funding winter. The effects have also been seen in the hiring pattern this year.


According to the Annual Insights Report by RazorpayX Payroll, on one hand, startups are experiencing the great normalisation of hiring, limiting their hiring of CXOs and permanent employees; on the other hand, they are increasing payouts to existing employees.

The report points out that Indian startups almost froze hiring new permanent employees in the last 12 months.



Razorpay mentioned in a press release that the findings of the report are from the analysis of payroll data from October 2021 to September 2022. The data was collected from over 25,000 employees across over 1,000 Indian startups from more than 20 sectors that use RazorpayX Payroll.

Gig workers over permanent employees

Meanwhile, startups are increasing payouts to existing employees, the report added. Payments to gig workers have also seen a growth of over 150 percent since October 2021.



Gig workers have also begun to replace permanent employees in many companies, according to the report.

“The data from RazorpayX Payroll indicates that startups have been optimising their workforce by building leaner yet stronger teams, keeping in mind the macro-forces. Moreover, compensating their existing employees for their contribution towards building sustainable runways, in the long run, shows that companies have been looking inwards, alongside the increasing adoption of giggers,” said Shashank Mehta, Vice President and Head of RazorpayX.

Salary spend increased but so did gender gap

Salary expenditures for companies have increased by 64.7 percent since October 2021, according to the report. The average salary has increased by 12 percent across all salary levels, contrary to previous trends.



Additionally, the report revealed that salaries are not rising equally for men and women. While salaries grew gradually for both men and women, male employees' salaries grew at a faster rate of 29 percent, as opposed to 22 percent for females.

Also read: Survey shows 52% of gig workers find it difficult to upskill — here's why the skill is the need of the hour

While the average wage disparity between men and women was 46 percent in the previous year, the survey found that the wage gap between the sexes in the 95th percentile income range was a staggering 70 percent this year.

The report further mentioned the lower participation of women in the workforce. For every two men that were hired in the last year, one woman was hired, added the report.

“The existing gender gap in terms of workforce ratio and pay still remains a challenge every startup needs to counter on priority. It is only through equitable participation and pay can we make our workforce truly productive in every sense,” said Mehta.

Also read: Startups in India have less than 20% women in leadership roles: Survey

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