B2B SaaS Hiring Market Update – Europe

Latest update – October 2022

• B2B SaaS hiring activity slowed over the last 6 months
• News of various redundancies across USA and Europe
• However, there are many SaaS firms hiring Senior Staff 
• But there is more competition for Leadership roles
• Candidates looking for 10-15% pay rises on average
• Hesitancy often exists in the hiring market by employers 

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B2B SaaS Hiring Market Update – Europe

Q3 2022 – Update

• The biggest hiring challenge has been the lack of good available candidates
• Those employed are often staying put unless there is enough pain to leave
• More nervousness in the market due to the economic situation
• Salary levels have stabilised over the last quarter
• Many new starters but many candidates have unrealistic salary expectations
• Hiring time scales have often become longer
• Candidates are often interviewing at multiple firms so competition is fierce
• Work from home / remote working are still hot topics
• Quiet Quitting is a new trend

1. Open Text to acquire MicroFocus – $6bn
2. Zendesk acquired by PE firms for $10.2bn led by Permira and Hellman & Friedman
3. Oracle acquires Cerner – $28bn
4. Broadcom to acquire VMware for $61bn
5. UiPath acquires Re:infer
6. Reddit to acquire MeaningCloud
7. eToro to acquire Gatsby – $50m

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B2B SaaS Hiring Market Update – Europe

Update – November 2021

• B2B SaaS hiring activity has increased dramatically since March 2021 
• More SaaS jobs than candidates resulting in multiple job offers for many candidates
• The market has been quiet during UK lockdowns but booming once restrictions have eased
• Big shift in companies interviewing extensively on the Zoom and other video platforms
• Location of candidate has been less of an prerequisite 
• Base Salary levels appear to have increased during 2021 in Europe by 10-20%
• Major demand for “modern” style SaaS sellers
• Numbers of interviews and hiring cycles have increased for many firms
• Push to having a more diverse interview panel
• 100k+ UK or Euro Enterprise Sales salary base levels have become the norm
• Latest SaaS Diversity Guide can be downloaded here….
• Most SaaS sectors are performing well, i.e.: HR / Employee tech, eCommerce related solutions, Digital Transformation

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COVID and the SaaS Hiring Market

July 2020

Before the COVID-19 crisis,  we had carried out B2B SaaS hiring on behalf of a number of forward-thinking SaaS firms.

These clients had already adopted a modern and different business approach compared to the traditional B2B Enterprise selling model.  For instance:

• Setting up an office in less expensive cities like Berlin rather than Munich
• Creating a modern-selling / bus-dev system that involved less travel by using systems such as zoom for prospects
• Managing Enterprise Selling remotely as much as possible

Were these SaaS firms ahead of the enforced curve?  Yes.

One could argue that such companies are in a stronger position to succeed moving forward having already embraced such a model.

The Future for B2B Sales / Executive Hiring?

What will be the new or adapted hiring criteria now and over the coming months due to the pandemic?  

I believe the pandemic will speed up what was already happening in the SaaS space.  That is to say the extinction of the “Classic Enterprise Sales person”.   

What are some of the styles of a Classic Enterprise, Software Sales person?

• A reluctant user of modern selling technologies such as Linkedin and zoom
• Limited experience of utilising such technologies for commercial activities
• Spends much of their business month travelling
• Strong Software perpetual licence selling experience and little SaaS 

What SaaS Executives are most likely to be Hired and in demand now?

• Those highly suited to remote working – especially if they already have a proven track record of remote / home-working for years and not a few months!
• Many can be good at remote working for a short period but then become less effective as the novelty wears off and fatigue kicks in
• Focus on hiring those who have adopted and embraced modern B2B selling and marketing technologies
• A solid track-record of managing SME / Enterprise deal cycles remotely
• If you are old-school in style, it just isn’t going to work

The age of the “Modern-Seller” is upon us and earlier than anticipated due to the COVID-19 situation.   Forbes also made a great contribution here >>