IT, eCommerce startups driving demand for middle managers: Report

The demand for middle managers has witnessed a y-o-y increase of 10 per cent, shows TimesJobs.com data from Feb 2014-Feb 2015. This experienced category also reported a 19 per cent jump from Jan to Feb 2015, with IT/Telecom being the top hiring sector.

There has been a positive sentiment in hiring at the middle-level in several sectors in India. Middle manager posts have seen a jump in demand by 10 per cent between Feb 2014 and Feb 2015.

“With a positive Indian economic outlook, there is great anticipation of rapid growth across industries. This is leading companies to realise their need for middle management experience and skills to scale up and take advantage of this growth. In addition, with the massive expansion plans of well-funded start-ups especially in the e-commerce and IT sectors – there is also significant demand for mid-level managers and project-team leaders with experience. Companies are in execution mode now and demand is up for managerial roles growing at over 10 per cent over last year. ” explains Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com.

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Source: TimesJobs.com

The biggies are hiring

According to the TimesJobs report, the big employers of IT, telecom, e-commerce and financial services are among the top sectors witnessing this upward trend in hiring middle managers.

In the IT segment, 5 percent of all hiring was at mid-management. Rectuitments were aimed at acquiring people for specialised and niche roles in areas such as digital channels, business intelligence and risk and control functions.

With telecom, retail and e-commerce companies expanding into new markets, new verticals and new product segments - executives in these companies reported that 10 percent of their total hires during Jan-Feb 2015 were for middle level.

Industry experts told TimesJobs.com that the number of middle managers was strongly linked to how the economy is faring. They were seen as expensive and dispensable during the slowdown. So, most of them stayed in their jobs. With the economy set to grow and an overall positive sentiment, companies now want the expertise of these experienced personnel to move to the next level of delivery. With this demand for mid-level professionals, the salary hikes being offered by companies have also been impressive.

The outlook

1) Higher demand for niche technology coupled with the need to build managerial bandwidth to sustain and execute expansion plans will lead to a surge in mid-level hiring.

2) Demand will be high in manufacturing and IT/ITeS sectors specifically. The Petrochemical/Oil & Gas sector is also expected to witness high demand at the middle level for sales and business development professionals.

3) In future, demand for middle and senior level professionals will get a push from metros and established industry hubs.