The prolonged funding winter bearing down on Indian startups could leave several companies with bare branches.

Hiring at startups this year has dropped by 10-50%, according to recruitment companies that hire for startups.

Recruitment companies Kelly Services India and PeopleStrong peg the drop in startup hiring in the past few months at a less severe 10%. “With investors now asking companies to focus on profits and cut down on spends, hiring managers are more cautious,” said Thammaiah BN, managing director at Kelly Services.

There could still be a ray of hope amid all this: The India Skills Report by Wheebox, PeopleStrong and CII in November has predicted that hiring intent in the internet business sector will improve by 5-10% in the later part of this year.

This article was published on The Economic Times