As job freeze grips India, mid-level managers feel the chill

From boardrooms to back offices, India Inc. is hitting the brakes on hiring. This time, it’s not just about IT— mid-level managers are feeling the freeze, while top roles remain the only sure bet.

The crisis in the Middle East, poor visibility and business realignment as companies measure the impact of artificial intelligence have caused hesitancy in the job market. Slower hiring in India’s private sector mirrors the overall increase in unemployment, driven by fewer rural jobs.

Job opportunities for the middle-order executives were scarce in the April-June period. “There is a 15% dip in the hiring mandates of executives who have four to eight years of experience in the consumer, pharmaceutical, hospitality and financial services,” noted Anshuman Das, chief executive and co-founder of Careernet, a talent solutions provider.

But a year-on-year comparison may be unjustified, as Das pointed out. “When one compares on a like-to-like basis, the drop in hiring mandates will widen because there were no tariff-related challenges and the global uncertainty was still limited to the Russia-Ukraine war.”

Leadership hiring is turning out to be a mixed bag and some businesses are urgently looking for CXOs. In fact, Mint wrote this week that even in the case of open positions, job seekers are hesitant about joining a new firm as they are afraid of sudden changes in the firm’s need for a new person as the geopolitical climate and global economy play truant. They fear the last man in will be the first one out.