Talent Overview
A snapshot of the headcount across the Top 100.
Overall, we find wide variability in the number of people employed by our Top 100 companies. Close to 70% of these businesses were between 2 and 3 years old at the time of the survey snapshot. For companies two years or younger, the median headcount was 14. Our research found that at the top end, six companies employed over 50 people; and equally, six companies employed fewer than 5 people.
Within the Cloud Challenger cohort trends, 3D modelling companies had the highest headcount, on average, at 47 people. Taking a cross section of the most common types of business, an average of 15-19 people was the most prevalent. The below chart shows the average headcount sizes for API Connection, Automation and Big Data companies.
Looking exclusively at the top 20 companies, the average size was 25 people and the age of the company was just under two years, at 22 months.
Averaged across years since founding, Cloud Challengers grew at a pace of two people per quarter (0.7 FTE/month). The fastest growing companies hired about three people per quarter. In practice, hiring rarely happens incrementally; it is more likely that these firms hired batches of team members post-fundraise or in service of a particular account.
In terms of sentiment in the current hiring market, almost 4 in 5 companies have continued their hiring strategies. Half the companies opted to grow moderately (by up to a third) and some 30% grew even more aggressively.
Hiring pace across top 100.
