Manish Khera lists five hiring trends in the start-up eco-system that dominated this year

A statement made 2,500 years ago stands relevant even today. More so, for the start-up eco-system that goes hand in hand with dynamism, agility, and innovation.With every year that passes, it witnesses the influx of cutting-edge technologies and ingenious approaches that solve long-standing market challenges. And in the due process,change the market entirely.

However, it is important to note that this change is primarily driven by the building blocks of the startup ecosystem, for example: The industry professionals.If you are one of them, or are planning to become one, here are some of the hiring trends of 2018 that you surely must know:

Blockchain eco-system

Blockchain technology has proven itself to be a game-changer for an array of industry applications.Just before 2018, India revealed its own plan to develop a blockchain network called IndiaChain which will be interlinked with IndiaStack and help in reducing frauds, speed up contract enforcement, increase transparency, and boost economy. A report suggests that India can add $5 billion to its economy within five years just by implementing blockchain. So, blockchain was one of the prime focus areas amongst startups throughout 2018 and will continue to remain the same for the coming few years.

Artificial Intelligence

Another area of focus during this year has been Artificial Intelligence (AI). Startups are typically known to have a very lean team which has to manage across-the-board operations. AI is now enabling them to streamline these operations through process automation while also extending deeper insights within their area of deployment.

The technology, at the same time, also eliminates human errors, omissions, and negligence. Given these advantages, the adoption of technology, and so, the recruitment of related talents, was quite high during 2018.

Open banking

The ongoing digitisation drive in India is truly transforming the regular Indian lifestyle. Now, people from all walks of life are looking towards digital services to meet their everyday needs including banking. The Indian regulatory has also been very supportive of the change and is readily promoting its open banking infrastructure.

With it, banks are also joining forces with fintech startups to leverage their trailblazing, tech-driven approaches in a range of applications. This was the main reason why the demand for talent within the fintech domain was specifically high.

Cybersecurity

Digital technologies, though adding tangible value to the broader ecosystem, also come with their own downsides. Cyber attacks have been mounting on India for quite some time now — which grew from 49,000 in 2015 to 50,000 in 2016 and 53,000 in 2017 (according to CERT-In) — and were expected to reach 58,300 in 2018. Start-ups, as they are mostly based on digital technologies, have adopted a prudential approach and started recruiting cyber security talent apart from leveraging MSPs (Managed Service Providers). Cyber security challenges are also being addressed right from the ground up with startups adopting DevSecOps instead of the typical DevOps.

Information Technology

At present, India is facing acute skill shortage with more than 140,000 jobs being vacant within the IT industry.This is despite fresh graduates constantly entering the job market every year. The situation is expected to further worsen in the future as more than 1.4 million new IT jobs will be created by 2027 (Cisco and IDC report).

Forward-looking start-ups are now trying to tackle the situation by collaborating with different educational institutions. They are helping shape the curriculum of various institutions as per market-facing applications and future needs. It is also enabling them to recruit candidates who can deliver and solve market challenges.

These have been some of the most prominent trends that were witnessed during 2018. It will be interesting to see how the grand scheme of things change in the year about to come. But now, it time to prepare for its arrival and revel in festivities!

The writer is founder and CEO,

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