What’s in Store for 2024? Scaling & Team Culture Trends

Are you curious about what the forecast hiring/retention trends are for the year? We’ve been attending some really interesting talks and events in Jan, here are our thoughts and highlights.?

Note - All views are focused on London tech hiring for Pre Seed, VC-backed and challenger brands.

? 2023 was the year of “waiting”?

? Most companies sat in a ‘wait and see’ mode - waiting for the VCs to wake up, waiting to rehire, waiting to open the new international office, waiting for the economy to pick up.

? Big tech hiring in 2023 had record redundancies (250K+) in Q1. E.g. Alphabet, Meta, Twitter and Microsoft, plus high profile scaleups.?

↗? 2024 - Cautiously optimistic?

? The early signs are that most companies are cautiously optimistic about rebuilding. Strategic replacement hires are most likely going to be across Sales, Marketing, Software and Product.

? The AI boom shows no signs of slowing down. There is room for real growth in this area.

? Exciting news from the US, with 353,000 jobs added in January. Hopefully we will start to see this in the UK at some point soon.?

? Tech layoffs have slowed but aren’t over yet, with targeted job trims still being announced.?

? The Middle East is starting to make an impact on the London tech scene, UK Fintechs opening Dubai offices is becoming more common. Plus, we predict a talent brain drain relocating to the Middle East at some point soon.?

?? Sectors hiring right now - for job seekers?

?? AI/ML, SaaS, Clean & Green Tech,? Renewable Energy, ESG, Fintech (Challenger Banks, Open Banking, GreenFinance, Blockchain, Payments), and CyberSecurity.?

? The ones to watch are Defense Tech, Space Tech, and Healthtech Longevity.

?? Venture Capital - $300 Billion in “dry powder”?

? VC activity is expected to restart at some point with $300 Billion in “dry powder” unspent from 2023.?

?? Angel investment into Pre Seed

? 2024 would be a good time to angel invest. The best venture startup vintages of the past two decades were in the years 2010-2012 - just after a significant downturn (when valuations were depressed). 2024 valuations have come back down to earth, so the smart investors are out there looking to invest again with tax sayings via SEIS.?

?? Hiring tips in a challenging market

? Don't wait for external funding - build a strong sales team. Start with the Head of Sales (Sales Director, VP Sales or CRO): Also, consider a more experienced Interim hire for maximum value.?

? Combining 2 roles can be cost effective. Hiring a CRO instead of a VP Sales and a VP Marketing, or combining Product and Software creating a CTPO, rather than hiring CTO and CPO, can save costs whilst ensuring you get the skill sets you need.

?? The Sam Bankman-Fried FTX meltdown last year was a good example of what happens when you don't have Operations, Risk or HR in place. Making sure you have a strong Infrastructure team is still essential, even in a slower growth environment.?

?? Salaries are down

? With the shift from a candidate-driven market (2021/22) to an employer-driven market (2023/34) the salary expectations are looking reasonable again. Potential candidates asking for significant pay rises have disappeared.?

? As always, this moves back and forth depending on economic cycles. Picking one strategic hire this year could be a sensible idea, such as hiring a VP Product star from Google or a COO with a track record of successful exits. This is the year to cherry pick a key hire, with minimal competition and affordable salary requests.

?? Interim - Cost effective hiring?

? Interim roles are taking over from FT hires, especially across Product, Marketing and HR.

?? Remote vs Back to the office vs Hybrid

? Early career employees who are based remotely are at a disadvantage, as staff that are in the office typically learn more about customers and their team more quickly.

? Remote workers have a 31% less chance of getting a promotion.??

? Remote jobs are 50% down from the 2022 peak.

? It really depends on the founder’s preference as the optimum working location and flexibility is still debated in every company.?

? The term Hybrid can mean anything. So it's best to highlight what you have in mind for “Hybrid” : how many days, time in the office, what day etc.?

?? Retention

? Turnover of staff on average is 18 months within the startup/scaleup sector -? this has dropped from 2 years 1 month pre-covid.?

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For a confidential conversation about hiring or any help in benchmarking against the market, feel free to DM me on LinkedIn or email [email protected]

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