Flipkart Tops LinkedIn’s List Of India’s Best Employers, Ola Slips And MMT Out

The year 2018 had been phenomenal for the Indian startup ecosystem. With Flipkart getting an exit at $16 bn valuation and the ranks of the unicorn club rising to 26, Indian startups have now shaken off the ‘jugaad’ tag. The fourth edition of LinkedIn’s Top Companies List has further highlighted Flipkart’s comeback to the top slot, from the second position last year.

The list analyses Linkedin India members’ data (anonymised to prevent identification of individual subjects) across four main pillars: interest in the company, engagement with the company’s employees, job demand and employee retention.

Ecommerce giant Amazon rose to second position in 2019 from rank 4 last year, while One97 Communications (Paytm) has slipped to fourth position from third last year. Surprisingly, it was replaced by hospitality major OYO which jumped 7 positions from rank 10 in 2018 to claim a place at the podium.

Overall, the list features 25 companies which span across categories such as the internet, automotive, hospitality, IT, consumer goods, oil and energy, banking, among others.

LinkedIn Top Companies Lists: What Changed In The Last Three Years?

In the last three years, the LinkedIn’s top companies list has seen a large variation in terms of ratings when it comes to the internet and hospitality companies of Indian origin as well as those having their subsidiaries in the country.

Here are the key takeaways we found after analysing the LinkedIn’s ratings for the internet and hospitality companies for the last three years.

• Ola is in bad shape. The cab aggregator’s performance as an employer is failing miserably. From position 5 in 2017, the company stands today at rank 19.
• Uber grabbed the rank 5, which is much higher than Ola’s
• Swiggy has improved its ranking from 15 in 2017 to 6 in 2019. The company was not part of the list in 2018.
• Uber (rank 5), Zomato (rank 8) and Freshworks (rank 17) marked their entry for the first time in three years in the LinkedIn’s top companies list
• Directi (rank 1 in 2018), Expedia (rank 13 in 2018), MakeMyTrip (rank 18 in 2018 and 23 in 2017) and Grofers (rank 22 in 2017) are not able to make their entry into the top 25.

LinkedIn Top Companies 2019: What The Top 5 Companies Upto In 2019?

Flipkart

Flipkart is looking to leverage advanced technologies to streamline its business. It has recently adopted automated robots in its Bengaluru warehouse. From groceries to online wealth management, the company is stepping up its game in every segment. The Walmart-owned company has also set up an internal fund of approx $60 Mn-$100 Mn to invest across early-stage startups in order to further strengthen its ecommerce operations.

Amazon India

The US-based ecommerce major continues to be bullish on the Indian market, despite the ongoing changes in FDI and data policies. The company is flushing money to its retail division and is aggressively promoting its private labels, and has shown an inclination towards omni-channel strategy. The company is even looking to set up 100 kiosks in Indian malls

OYO

Hospitality major OYO has been on a roll since the start of 2019. While continuing its overseas expansion, OYO has also taken a plunge into the coworking segment. It recently acquired Gurugram-based coworking space Innov8, and also launched Powerstation, another coworking space brand. To add to that, a $200 Mn partnership with Airbnb,  experiments with OYO Food, and $200 Mn committed for capacity expansion in India and Southeast Asia– there is no stopping for OYO in the present scenario.

Paytm

Paytm’s range of products is continuously growing with new additions at short intervals. After the success of Paytm Payments Bank, Paytm Money, Paytm Gold, the company is now entering into the OTT segment. It is also looking to expand its digital payments services into more developed markets in 2019.

Uber

Uber recently gave a clear message that despite being caught in a two-horse race with Ola, it is not going to let up its challenge anytime soon. The company is looking to double (upto 1,000) its employee headcount by the end of the year. It is also looking to launch new features to entice consumers.

In India, startup culture has been long associated with a skewed work-life balance. And for many of the investors and entrepreneurs in the ecosystem, this has been an acceptable tradeoff for future success. However Linkedin’s latest report shows that as Indian companies now go international, their employee management also has to be in line with global standards.