COMPANIES SPECIAL... LinkedIn Top Companies 2018: Where India wants to work now

LinkedIn Top Companies 2018: Where India wants to work now

Here are this year's top 25 companies in India.

PART I ( 1 TO 9)

1.         DIRECTI INTERNET

Cherry-picking talent: The Directi umbrella houses names like domain portfolio registry Radix, voice-calling app Ringo, enterprise messaging tool Flock and digital meal voucher Zeta, all of which, the company says, are “among the top five globally in their space”. But getting a

 foot in the door isn’t easy — even CEO Bhavin Turakhia once remarked he “may not get through”. The unconventional hiring process includes case studies, tasks like app development and solving the Rubik’s cube, and questions like “How many diapers are sold in Mumbai every day?”

Global headcount: More than 1,500

Busting stress: New employees get a complimentary Kindle as part of their welcome kit. Once they settle in, the Xbox, foosball and table tennis ensure stress is kept at bay.

2. FLIPKART INTERNET

New-found vigour: The homegrown e-tailer has had a banner year — it raised a whopping $2.5 billion, provided partial exits to some of its investors and, most importantly, rediscovered the mojo to take on rival Amazon. The only blip? A protracted buyout discussion with Snapdeal fell through after the beleaguered e-tailer decided to go it solo.

Flipkart aims to recruit over 800 employees this year spanning data science, analytics and HR, among other specialisations.

Global headcount: 8,000

Warm welcome: New joiners set off on a treasure hunt to help them explore the office and interact with fellow “Flipsters”.

3. ONE97 COMMUNICATIONS INTERNET

Locked and loaded: When Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma looks back, he might see 2017 as a watershed for his digital payments enterprise. We aren’t just referring to its elevated status as India’s second decacorn after Flipkart. Last year, it launched a payments bank; deepened its financial services play with products like Paytm Gold and lending; and achieved $3 billion in gross merchandise value at its e-commerce arm Paytm Mall. These efforts point in the direction of creating an e-commerce ecosystem that keeps customers within its confines. But there are challenges, too — its bread-and-butter wallet business faces stiff competition from the massively popular WhatsApp and Google Tez.

Global headcount: 17,000

ESOP fables: The company offers stock plans to top performers, aside from an annual bonus. More than 20 Paytm employees recently became dollar millionaires via a secondary sale of stock options.

4. AMAZON INTERNET

Never back down: Seattle-based Amazon is doubling down on its India plans – it has so far poured $1.3 billion into its local arm this fiscal, and may soon surpass the $5 billion investment CEO Jeff Bezos announced for the country. The e-tailer’s annual subscription service Prime, which bundles faster delivery and unlimited video streaming, continues to be a cornerstone of its strategy. “More members joined India's Prime programme in the first year than we've seen in any other country," CFO Brian Olsavsky said. That’s not all — it has introduced Alexa, Echo speakers and the Fire TV Stick here already, and will soon launch its audiobook business Audible.

Global headcount: 566,000

Human touch: Employees can give six weeks’ paid leave to a partner who isn’t eligible for parental leave at their employer. Besides, Amazon’s Ramp Back programme offers new parents eight weeks of flexibility and partial work hours so they can acclimatise to their new schedules.

5.ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV CONSUMER GOODS

Beer review: If you are a beer person, chances are you recently downed a pint that came out of an AB InBev facility. The company, whose line-up includes names like Budweiser, Corona, Hoegaarden and Stella Artois, sells 500 beer brands in more than 150 countries. “We believe India is one of the most important markets for the brand, with 20 million people turning 21 every year,” Kartikeya Sharma, marketing director at AB InBev India, said recently.

Global headcount: 200,000

Entry barriers: Getting into this beverage giant — which produces one in four beers around the world — is no mean feat. “The admission hurdles get progressively higher with up to seven interviews and exercises, including a final stage in which candidates might be asked to judge which of their interviewers they would select,” a Financial Times report said.

6.McKINSEY & COMPANY MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Career launch pad: If a company boasts alumni like Myntra’s Ananth Narayanan, Ola's Saikiran Krishnamurthy and Treebo Hotels’ Sidharth Gupta and Rahul Chaudhary, it’s worth a closer look. As a McKinsey employee you would get to rub shoulders with some of the sharpest minds and influential executives in the world of business. By the company’s own admission, this “dynamic network is a lasting benefit of a McKinsey career.”

Global headcount: 25,000

Decompress: Under ‘Take Time’, employees can take five to 10 extra weeks off to pursue their passion – get a pilot’s license, write a book – or attend to family matters. McKinsey says several of its employees ‘Take Time’ more than once during their stay at the company.

7. ALPHABET IT & SERVICES

The behemoth: Few companies carry the reach of Google, the largest Alphabet division. The company controls the market for search and, with Facebook, much of digital advertising, too.

Gourmet meals, fitness facilities, generous parental leave and on-site childcare — there's probably a perk for every letter at Alphabet. But what also keeps employees glued is the variety of challenges on offer, whether it's making Tez India's most popular UPI app in four months flat or expanding the company's free public Wi-Fi programme.

Global headcount: 80,110

Out of the box: Should you land an interview, expect questions like, "Estimate the number of tennis balls that can fit into a plane", and "Which do you think has more advertising potential in Boston — a flower shop or funeral home"?

8.KPMG INDIA MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Charting growth: KPMG India will be celebrating its silver jubilee this September. In these 25 years, the Big Four professional services firm has amassed over 2,700 clients who depend on it for all things audit- and tax-related. Servicing this galaxy of clients takes some doing — and a huge workforce. Year after year, KPMG hires in droves from India’s top B-schools. Good grades and technical skills don’t guarantee a job — KPMG says it prizes agility in candidates, looking for those who can connect “issues that may not have been obvious before.”

Global headcount: 197,263

Regional reach: KPMG India has offices in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

9.EY ACCOUNTING

Growth spurt: The Big Four accounting firm is looking to get bigger — it plans to hire 80,000 people (including 20,000 interns) globally this year. A leading provider of tax, transactions and assurance services, it also advises the government on tricky areas like infrastructure development and public-private partnerships. EY is looking for candidates with unconventional (read: non-financial) backgrounds, including those with data analytics and A.I. chops.

Global headcount: 250,000

Parent company: EY offers 16 weeks of parental leave to employees who have welcomed a child through birth, adoption, foster care or legal guardianship.

CONTINUES

Abhigyan Chand

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