Indian startups are dialling outplacement firms to help retrenched employees secure a job.

FREMONT, CA: Indian startups are calling out outplacement agencies to assist laid-off workers in finding employment. According to outplacement firms, some startups recently asked for support from experts to help recently laid-off workers get ready and even edit their resumes to find employment. This emphasises how difficult it is for workers who find themselves abruptly out of a job, as venture capital investment is drying up as investors become wary owing to the erratic financial markets and geopolitical concerns. So far in 2022, 7,000 to 8,000 startup employees have lost their jobs across verticals like administration, teaching, sales and marketing, and support staff. These employees were mostly junior and midmanagement staff. Startups may be forced to fire another 5,000 workers over the coming quarters due to mounting investor pressure to raise profitability and concentrate more on their core operations.

In addition to linking laid-off workers with potential employers, outplacement firms assist them with their resumes. Companies are engaging us to support applicants who have been laid off with coaching, branding, and marketing of their profiles. On the other hand, businesses that are growing their workforce have also had a strong demand for outplacement services over the past two quarters. Following the disruptions caused by COVID, a surge in economic activity has resulted in a recruiting frenzy across industries like information technology (IT), IT-enabled services (ITes), and startups. Outplacement companies, however, claimed that despite the hiring boom, it is difficult for people who have been laid off to obtain employment. The profiles that are in demand are not for people who were laid off. The CEO of an outplacement firm who requested anonymity said that the IT sector, for instance, is searching for skill sets in coding, Java, and Python but will not be looking for sales and marketing profiles.

Outplacement services are typically employed by multinational corporations when employees are offered the opportunity to use these services and the employer pays for them. According to Hardeep Singh, president of Right Management India Pvt. Ltd, the consulting division of recruitment firm Manpower Group, the pandemic had a catastrophic effect on the economy, which prompted a significant increase in demand for outplacement services. This demand was driven by employers who decided to be considerate of the harm it caused to departing employees. The outplacement portion of the business is stabilising at pre-pandemic levels as a result of the improvement in the business environment. Outplacement services are currently in high demand due to client strategic priorities and job layoffs, particularly in the global energy, pharmaceutical, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industries.