2020 has, of course, been a difficult year for many people, with businesses globally needing to make multiple pivots. Startups, however, have been innovating with more than just products and USPs. How are modern ventures continuing to hire staff in a confusing new climate?
Startups Finding Solutions
One thing we all need to remember is that startups are built to thrive under pressure. Therefore, in essence, it would be easy to assume that the current global crisis helped to inspire more projects than ever before.
However, we need to look at ventures and job creation in general. For example, let’s consider the impact they have on jobs in the US, total. Research suggests that small companies help to create up to 2.9 million jobs, domestically, net – each year. However, we also need to consider that current crises will likely have impacted these figures for 2020.
Some spheres have been hit harder than others. Naturally, the travel industry has seen some shrinkage. However, there are green shoots elsewhere. Healthcare – telehealth, in particular, is booming, as we’ve analyzed previously. What’s most interesting is that smaller ventures are finding new ways to pivot for hires.
Case Studies Worth Considering
Let’s look towards the UK for key statistics. Data suggests that the tech sphere, in particular, is growing amid widespread uncertainty. Research shows a growth of at least 36% in hiring for venture tech has emerged across July and August. Gymshark, for example, is a tech enterprise that’s grown amid the lockdown.
Business Insider posits that ventures still in ‘production mode’ will likely have had no issue in hiring during the spring and summer. Haystack founder and VC Semil Shah, states that “the period has proven a great time to ‘hunker down.’ “ Also in conversation with Jai Sajnani, BI presses an idea that it’s smaller companies leading the hiring charge.
Sajnani’s own data shows that around 50% of hiring ventures only have a core personnel of approximately five people, maximum. In fact, his data also shows that big company hiring seems to be in the minority.
If we are to take this data at face value, we can assume that ventures continuing to hire firmly during this period are those which are still actively growing. The lockdown conditions may be hitting hard, but it’s actually had little effect on those enterprises still in an ‘embryonic’ state.
What Does This Mean for the Future?
If anything, this resilience in hiring and onboarding during such a time is likely to be inspirational. Startups are, by their very nature, poised to adapt to intense conditions and to look for solutions.
Therefore, it won’t be too surprising for investors and third-parties to find funded firms – such as those startups listed through Fundz – hiring more staff as time goes on. Not all ventures will need new staff. However, it’s not surprising to see an uptick in companies hiring early on in their journeys. Let’s wait and see what figures look like for Q3 and Q4 in time.
SOURCES
https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-hiring-amid-coronavirus-job-board-2020-4?r=US&IR=T
https://gbievents.com/blog/6-big-startup-winners-during-covid-19-outbreak
https://www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/launch-pad/fitness-and-gaming-startups-coronavirus
https://techcrunch.com/pages/covid-19-updates/
http://www.oecd.org/sdd/business-stats/
https://www.statista.com/chart/22134/coronavirus-impact-on-startups/
https://voxeu.org/article/startup-employment-calculator-covid-19
https://sifted.eu/articles/gymshark-ben-francis/
https://sifted.eu/articles/hiring-tech-nation-coronavirus/
https://www.ypulse.com/newsfeed/2020/08/19/startups-are-hiring-students-taking-gap-years/
