Startup direct hiring platform Hirect fires 40% of workforce

Co-founder and chief executive officer Raj Das said the company is undergoing a strategic change in its business model. Confirming Hirect has laid off around 40% of its workforce, Das said, “We still have hundreds of employees with us.”

After a jobs boom during the pandemic era of cheap money, startups are laying off thousands of employees as their investors turned cautious because of the rising cost of funds. Companies such as Hirect that focus specifically on the startup segment are the worst affected as new hirings have slowed to a trickle.

According to its LinkedIn page, the Bengaluru and San Francisco-based startup has around 472 employees. At its peak, the company employed as many as 600 people, two people familiar with the company said, requesting anonymity.

At least three affected employees said they were asked to resign in mid-October, but were yet to receive relieving letters. One of the employees said the management failed to keep the promise of providing severance pay and job search assistance.

In response to emailed queries, Das said, “Clearing dues is our priority. We are doing everything we can to expedite the process and clear all outstanding settlements as soon as possible.”

The employees cited above said the management asked most of the team to move to Bengaluru before the layoffs.

Last year, recruitment, especially tech-based roles, was a hot topic in the startup ecosystem, and Hirect was aggressive with its marketing campaigns in Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune. Posters were put up at bus stands, on autos, cabs, skywalks, cafes, restaurants and in front of business parks. With a message of “Hire directly without consultants”, the marketing included an ad film series #BeyondHiring and ‘Mai Ban Gaya, Tu Bhi Banjayega’ that celebrated the roller-coaster journey of job seekers from their struggle to find a job and becoming successful.

Hirect had also launched a $1 million startup programme where a chosen startup received free marketing across social channels to reach a million impression.

In the programme, selected CEOs and founders are invited to participate in virtual hiring events hosted by Hirect and partners.

Founded in September 2018 by Das, Hirect offers a hiring platform for high-growth startups and small businesses without consultants. The platform allows recruiters to hire within the application with its in-built audio and video calling feature. Hirect’s India entity is operated by Elephantjob Pvt. Ltd, while the US entity comes under Hirect One, Inc.

The platform clocked over 8 million downloads on Apple’s App Store and Android Play Store. Over 3 million verified job seekers are actively looking for jobs, whereas over 140,000 verified startups are actively hiring on the platform. Hirect doesn’t charge startups for the first three job posts and charges a small fee for successive posts.