Bangalore: "I believe there is no slowdown in the hiring in the startups. But they have to become bit more cautious in the future. If the GDP comes down, then there might be some impact, but as of now, it is all in the mind of the people about the whole 'slowdown in hiring' thing," says Amit Lakhotia, Co-Founder, GetMeCab.com.

83 percent of the startups plan were in a hiring mode in 2011, an increase from the 73 percent in 2010, says a study by Silicon Valley Bank. Another study by the National Venture Capital Association shows that out of 500 startups only 4 percent predicted a decrease in the headcount.

The areas like sciences and clean tech might see a slow hiring due to the slowdown in VC funding. However, the other sectors especially e-commerce startups like Flipkart and SnapDeal are aggressive on hiring as they are witnessing a mammoth fundings from VCs and PEs alike. The backing by VCs is helping startups gain confidence among the talents. "Candidates from the bigger campuses are not averse to taking risks and joining startups," adds Lakhotia.

Chennai based Bank Bazaar.com is taking the advantage of current scenario, especially for campus recruitments. Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bank Bazaar says, "This year the hiring has been pretty much aggressive and we have hired around 15 engineers from IITs. There is an increase in the competition among the students and the pricing is equally competitive."

Students from the top colleges do not even blink before thinking about joining startups as they see a lot of growth prospects. Moreover the startups being aggressive in viral marketing is also a blessing in disguise for them to get better visibility among the prospective employees

Recently there is a growing trend among IIMs and IIT graduates to join startups. 2012 will witness an increase in the backing by VCs, which would see many more startups hiring aggressively.