Start-ups in edtech, logistics, gig economy to drive jobs in 2021: Report

90% of companies surveyed say they will be hiring at the same pace as pre-Covid period

Venture capital-funded start-ups, especially in edtech, logistics and gig economy will be key drivers of the job market in 2021, with companies willing to pay a premium for talent with knowledge and experience in new-age digital skills such as AI, ML, data science, says a survey.

According to a survey by Scaler, an upskilling platform for students and working professionals, while 90 per cent of the companies would be hiring at the same pace as the pre-Covid period, over 50 per cent say they would be hiring more in the March quarter as compared to the corresponding period last year.

“We expect hiring, especially in the technology sector, to return to pre-covid numbers by the end of this quarter. Companies will hire, but they will focus on hiring the right talent. People will need to invest time and effort to ensure they have the requisite skills and knowledge. Up-skilling and reskilling will continue to be key growth drivers,” said Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder, Scaler and InterviewBit.

Top roles in demand will be software developers, data scientists, web and mobile application developers.

After a successful work-from-home and remote working experiment, companies are now confident in hiring remote talent to get access to a larger talent pool. However, while MNCs and large companies have adopted a hybrid workplace model or in the process of transition, early-stage start-ups continue to prefer in-premise workplace models citing collaboration challenges. “Work-from-home has increased the opportunities for women, especially for those looking to re-enter the workforce hence diversity, inclusion and equity will be top priority for companies,” said the report.

The survey was conducted among 150 plus partner companies across MNCs, large companies, high-growth start-ups and early-stage start-ups.