It is not just the private equity investors moving towards the Indian e-commerce sector, even those with expertise in technology, logistics and finance are choosing to work with e-tailers that are yet to break even, leaving more established companies in core sectors.
Fat pay cheques, healthy annual hikes, employee stock ownership plans (Esops), vibrant and jovial work culture and bigger responsibilities prompt them to move towards e-commerce over core sectors. The average age of employees in most e-commerce companies vary between 25 and 35.
Hence, it’s not unusual for e-tailers like Flipkart, Myntra, Amazon and Shopclues to attract such talent by the droves for middle and senior management roles, especially from IT product development companies, FMCG sector and supply chain and logistics firms.
Pooja Gupta, VP-HR, Myntra, said: “At Myntra, Esops are granted to all employees and the potential upside is significant enough to attract top talent. Additionally, we have been able to create a workplace that is vibrant and fun. We have invested in building a strong culture of ownership, meritocracy and transparency.”
According to hiring experts, incentives vary according to experience. While it is primarily hefty pay for entry-level employees from premier institutes, more experienced professionals are buoyed by Esops. “In technology domain, freshers from IITs get almost double of what an Infosys or Wipro will offer. In logistics, if somebody switches from say Snapdeal to Flipkart, the raise is typically around 30-40%,” said Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO and managing director of executive search firm Head Hunters
Riding on an infusion of $50 million from investors led by Premji Invest in February, followed by its acquisition by Flipkart in May at a valuation of $350-370 million, Myntra will aggressively hire in verticals like technology, analytics, buying and merchandising, fashion and marketing.
For Delhi-based online marketplace Shopclues, around one-third of the recruits in middle and senior management positions in the last two years came from core sectors.
“People who have done reasonably well in their sectors, want more challenges and are willing to take risks, opt for e-commerce,” said Shopclues CEO Sanjay Sethi.
The company’s spending towards employees is around 45% of its monthly expenses, with infrastructure maintenance, marketing etc accounting for the rest. Besides, Shopclues offers annual hikes of around 15-25%, based on performance, which is way more than the 7-10% industry average for top IT services company’s like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. The company also offers Esops.
