It’s is just been over a year that the Indian e-commerce players have
seen volumes soaring, but the top dollar offered by the leading players
in the sector is luring sharp minds from technology majors where hikes
have been meagre this year. People associated with the technology sector
said several of the senior-level executives who moved to e-commerce
start-ups have landed with a 60-80% jump on their current salaries along
with stock options and lucrative perks.
The prospects of bigger responsibilities, faster growth and a sense of ownership are driving mid- to senior-level executives from top-tier companies in IT-ITeS, retail and telecom in the e-commerce space. While most sectors are trying to control wage costs, the e-commerce industry has been an exception, trying its very best to lure top talent from the IT sector, which has been laid low by consistently poor hikes in the last couple of years.
“The e-commerce companies offer crazy money, some even pay 100% hike on the current packages that employees are drawing,” says Amitabh Das, chief executive of recruitment firm Vati Consulting.
“In the last month alone, we have placed eight people in the mid to senior level who were getting salaries in the range of R15-24 lakh. They were offered packages in the range of R28-40 lakh by the e-commerce players, depending on the level and roles. We see this trend going up. In the last four months, we have placed about 25 people,” says Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services India.
Mukesh Bansal, founder and CEO of online fashion store Myntra.com, attributes this to the shortage of talent in the e-commerce space. “Currently in the e-commerce business a bit of talent war is going on, which has made most players pay generously. Overall, pay packages in the sector are pretty good,” he says. “We have about 60 engineers, most of them are IIT graduates and from leading product companies like Google, Yahoo and Amazon.”
According to staffing companies, at the CXO levels, the annual package ranges between R1 crore and R3 crore.
For instance, Hitesh Oberoi, CEO of Info Edge, an on-line classifieds company that runs platforms like naukri.com, jeevansathi.com, policybazaar.com, and zomato.com, earned a total remuneration of Rs 1.57 crore in FY12, of which his salary was Rs 88.11 lakh, according to the company’s annual report.
Among the recent big-ticket hirings in the sector, online retailer Flipkart.com recently roped in former vice-president (HR) of Yahoo India Aparna Ballakur as its chief people officer leading the HR function of the company. Prior to Yahoo, Ballakur was director, HR, at Adobe Systems. Headhunters estimate Ballakur’s annual package to be in the Rs 80-lakh category.
Qyuki, a social media company co-founded by film-maker Shekhar Kapur and music director AR Rehman, has also done some big-buck hiring at the CTO levels, says recruiters.
Experts point out that for people joining an e-commerce venture at a senior level, the major push is stock options. “The very clear upside for most top-level recruit is the stock options. They might be fine to join at a similar compensation or slightly higher, but the stock earning has to be highly significant. They are aware that in the next three years the stocks can earn them anywhere between Rs 6 crore and Rs 7 crore,” says Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, partner and vice-president, StantonChase International, an executive search company.
E-commerce start-ups are heavily funded by venture capitalists (VCs) who have a major say in top-level recruits. “VCs look at scale, without which they won’t see exits. Most of the hiring at the senior level is done through networking. VCs are extremely well networked and know the right candidates who can scale up the business,” notes Chetty-Rajagopal.
The meteoric rise of the e-commerce ventures in the last one year has also attracted the best talent from the country’s premier B-schools and engineering colleges. This year, of the total 423 offers at IIM-Bangalore, 4% came from the e-commerce firms. Myntra, which hired seven IIT graduates, five from ISB, and two from the IIMs this year, had earlier told FE that salaries for tech and management freshers have been in the range of Rs 12-15 lakh annually plus Esops and other benefits. For laterals, compensation was adjusted accordingly.
Flipkart, which hired 120 graduates from the IITs and 23 from the IIMs, and Snapdeal, which recruited over 40 from the IITs and about five from the IIMs this year, did not disclose their pay structure across levels.“While we can’t share specifics on salaries or salary range, we do have a pretty diverse need in terms of talent – right from top-notch technology professionals to management professionals for our retail team. We also look for customer support, warehousing and delivery team members,” says Ballakur.
Recruiters are of the opinion that in the long run the current salary structure in the e-commerce business is not a sustainable trend. “About 70-80% of the e-commerce ventures fail because of cost issues. Companies cannot afford such high wage costs over a long period as margins get hit severely,” says Das of Vati Consulting.
However, some feel that e-commerce businesses have to compete with larger players and they need to attract great talent. “We should not see e-commerce as a new kid on the block. In the last few years many have gained traction and currently are legitimate mid-sized players. In the current market, if you have to be a larger player you need to match up to the level of top companies in the industry. And for that you need to have the right talent pool. You can’t let go the best talent in the market just to save a few lakhs,” says Arun Sirdeshmukh, co-founder and CEO, Fashionara.com, who was formerly Reliance Trends CEO.
The prospects of bigger responsibilities, faster growth and a sense of ownership are driving mid- to senior-level executives from top-tier companies in IT-ITeS, retail and telecom in the e-commerce space. While most sectors are trying to control wage costs, the e-commerce industry has been an exception, trying its very best to lure top talent from the IT sector, which has been laid low by consistently poor hikes in the last couple of years.
“The e-commerce companies offer crazy money, some even pay 100% hike on the current packages that employees are drawing,” says Amitabh Das, chief executive of recruitment firm Vati Consulting.
“In the last month alone, we have placed eight people in the mid to senior level who were getting salaries in the range of R15-24 lakh. They were offered packages in the range of R28-40 lakh by the e-commerce players, depending on the level and roles. We see this trend going up. In the last four months, we have placed about 25 people,” says Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services India.
Mukesh Bansal, founder and CEO of online fashion store Myntra.com, attributes this to the shortage of talent in the e-commerce space. “Currently in the e-commerce business a bit of talent war is going on, which has made most players pay generously. Overall, pay packages in the sector are pretty good,” he says. “We have about 60 engineers, most of them are IIT graduates and from leading product companies like Google, Yahoo and Amazon.”
According to staffing companies, at the CXO levels, the annual package ranges between R1 crore and R3 crore.
For instance, Hitesh Oberoi, CEO of Info Edge, an on-line classifieds company that runs platforms like naukri.com, jeevansathi.com, policybazaar.com, and zomato.com, earned a total remuneration of Rs 1.57 crore in FY12, of which his salary was Rs 88.11 lakh, according to the company’s annual report.
Among the recent big-ticket hirings in the sector, online retailer Flipkart.com recently roped in former vice-president (HR) of Yahoo India Aparna Ballakur as its chief people officer leading the HR function of the company. Prior to Yahoo, Ballakur was director, HR, at Adobe Systems. Headhunters estimate Ballakur’s annual package to be in the Rs 80-lakh category.
Qyuki, a social media company co-founded by film-maker Shekhar Kapur and music director AR Rehman, has also done some big-buck hiring at the CTO levels, says recruiters.
Experts point out that for people joining an e-commerce venture at a senior level, the major push is stock options. “The very clear upside for most top-level recruit is the stock options. They might be fine to join at a similar compensation or slightly higher, but the stock earning has to be highly significant. They are aware that in the next three years the stocks can earn them anywhere between Rs 6 crore and Rs 7 crore,” says Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, partner and vice-president, StantonChase International, an executive search company.
E-commerce start-ups are heavily funded by venture capitalists (VCs) who have a major say in top-level recruits. “VCs look at scale, without which they won’t see exits. Most of the hiring at the senior level is done through networking. VCs are extremely well networked and know the right candidates who can scale up the business,” notes Chetty-Rajagopal.
The meteoric rise of the e-commerce ventures in the last one year has also attracted the best talent from the country’s premier B-schools and engineering colleges. This year, of the total 423 offers at IIM-Bangalore, 4% came from the e-commerce firms. Myntra, which hired seven IIT graduates, five from ISB, and two from the IIMs this year, had earlier told FE that salaries for tech and management freshers have been in the range of Rs 12-15 lakh annually plus Esops and other benefits. For laterals, compensation was adjusted accordingly.
Flipkart, which hired 120 graduates from the IITs and 23 from the IIMs, and Snapdeal, which recruited over 40 from the IITs and about five from the IIMs this year, did not disclose their pay structure across levels.“While we can’t share specifics on salaries or salary range, we do have a pretty diverse need in terms of talent – right from top-notch technology professionals to management professionals for our retail team. We also look for customer support, warehousing and delivery team members,” says Ballakur.
Recruiters are of the opinion that in the long run the current salary structure in the e-commerce business is not a sustainable trend. “About 70-80% of the e-commerce ventures fail because of cost issues. Companies cannot afford such high wage costs over a long period as margins get hit severely,” says Das of Vati Consulting.
However, some feel that e-commerce businesses have to compete with larger players and they need to attract great talent. “We should not see e-commerce as a new kid on the block. In the last few years many have gained traction and currently are legitimate mid-sized players. In the current market, if you have to be a larger player you need to match up to the level of top companies in the industry. And for that you need to have the right talent pool. You can’t let go the best talent in the market just to save a few lakhs,” says Arun Sirdeshmukh, co-founder and CEO, Fashionara.com, who was formerly Reliance Trends CEO.
No comments:
Post a Comment