Job title inflation is becoming widespread across various sectors to attract and retain

In a scene from the underrated Telugu caper ‘Jathi Ratnalu’, a lovable loser from Andhra Pradesh’s Jogipet is shocked to see his friend Praveen, known as “Jogipet’s pride”, lounging in a lungi in the corridor of an upscale Hyderabad apartment. The hero’s face pales as he watches Praveen reprimand two women housekeepers for their poor performance. Approaching the lungi-clad janitor, our befuddled rustic protagonist asks: “Didn’t you say you were a floor manager?”

Turns out the ‘job title inflation’ Praveen did to earn respect in Jogipet is now a rampant global trend used by HR departments to attract or retain talent in a competitive market. Take the unsuspecting candidate who joined a company as a ‘chief innovation officer’ only to discover that the ‘innovation department’ consisted of one intern and a tiny budget or the ‘chief evangelist’ leading a small marketing team. Or the HR professional who quit her job to become a ‘transformation strategist’ only to realise the role was the same was “basically the same as a hiring manager.”

“The tactic helps companies lure candidates without raising salaries,” says Anju Sethi, HR head at Brightsun Travel, India.

LinkedIn India’s recent Workforce Report highlights that job title inflation has particularly surged in startups and tech sectors due to a “talent crunch and competitive hiring environments.” Unable to match larger corporations’ salaries, startups use inflated titles to attract talent and “provide a sense of prestige” as Sethi puts it. Citing a 2023 report by Naukri.com that noted a significant increase in new and creative job titles across sectors, he points to the presence of ‘chief storytellers’ in PR and the growing number of ‘chief people officers’ populating HR. “These titles appeal to Gen Z employees who prioritise meaningful work and social media image over traditional career paths,” says Prof. Smita Chaudhary, Faculty of Human Resources at Pune’s FLAME University.

But it’s not just happening at entry level. A few years ago, Goldman Sachs revealed that vice presidents make almost a quarter of its workforce. The VP bug has spread across corporates. After all, a senior executive vice president is not to be confused with a senior vice president and executive vice president.

On LinkedIn, Rajesh Soundararajan, executive director of the nonprofit Katha, wrote about how in one tech company in India, country managers abounded. “The joke then was that there was Country Manager (South Delhi), Country Manager (CP), Country Manager (Noida), and Country Manager (IFFCO Chowk)….”

Mid-sized and family-run businesses too are guilty of bloating titles to retain employees and “create an illusion of career advancement”, says Siddharth Gusain, knowledge advisor with the Society of Human Resource Management - East. “The cultural importance of prestigious job titles in India fuels this trend, especially among younger professionals,” says Gusain, citing titles like ‘chief product officer’ for small product teams and ‘vice president of growth’ for sales roles.

To be sure, the trend isn’t new. In 2009, at age 29, Ankur Warikoo — now an unmissable internet entrepreneur — patted himself on the back on bagging the title of ‘managing director’ at a German company aiming to launch businesses in India. “Now I’m wiser,” he admits, noting that the trend, “which was present forever in consumer-facing roles in banking,” has spread to other sectors. “It used to be about impressing customers. Now, it’s about pandering to employees,” he states, attributing the surge of VPs and MDs to “status games” in a social media-driven generation facing a scarcity of quality jobs. “In the absence of a horizontal growth path, leaders often opt for inflated titles as a shortcut to project pseudo-growth,” notes Devashish Sharma, CEO of Taggd, an AI-powered recruitment platform.

A McKinsey report highlights that women often face greater challenges in promotions, even with inflated titles. “Women sometimes receive inflated titles to encourage diversity hires, but without corresponding increases in responsibility or pay, this can heighten feelings of tokenism,” says Sethi.

If everyone is a VP, is anyone truly a VP? “The problem with title inflation is that sometimes people who get elected to these positions actually believe that that is their role unless they are disabused of the notion,” internet entrepreneur and investor Sanjeev Bhikchandani recently posted on X. Tracing the trend to a motivational strategy from a few decades ago when ‘vice presidents’ replaced ‘general managers’ and ‘account directors’ began to supersede ‘account supervisors’, Bhikchandani’s said that the phenomenon also infects education institutions such as Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, where he studied. “There was a President and a Chancellor of the Exchequer and if I remember correctly there was a cabinet and various ministers etc. etc...,” wrote Bhikchandani adding a ‘Minister of the Interior’ whose job included ensuring the hot water boilers were working well in the student residences and an ‘External Affairs Minister’ whose job was to interact with other colleges regarding college festivals etc. “We were pompous and possessed of self importance and quite happy to be so,” wrote Bhikchandani. “We were gods of small things,” he added.

Sethi says that if titles become disconnected from actual responsibilities, it could harm an organisation’s efficiency. “As companies grow, they may need to reassess their title structures for clarity and consistency,” says Sethi, predicting that larger companies, especially MNCs, will likely adopt standardised titles to reduce confusion.

Raj too believes the trend will eventually “rationalise”, with companies ultimately relying on individual skill and performance to justify positions.

Lofty titles come with a cost for employees as well. Akshatha Karangutkar, who heads HR for Samhita Social Ventures, once received a LinkedIn inquiry from a ‘data strategist’ eager to work at her firm. Upon meeting, she discovered he was a junior management information systems executive with an inflated title from a previous MNC. “He likely misses opportunities and receives calls for roles that don’t match his profile,” says Karangutkar.

“I would always tell people to beware of these flashy titles and get more clarity in terms of what they will be doing in the role,” says Karangutkar, an HR veteran who finds little ambiguity in her position as ‘people leader’.

In conversation with Times of India: Prof. Smita Chaudhary, Faculty of Human Resources, FLAME University.