Leadership shake-up: 62% of India’s manufacturing sector exec hires are external; CEO, MD roles see biggest churn

A majority of executive-level appointments in India’s manufacturing sector over the past year were external hires, reflecting companies’ preference to bring in fresh leadership rather than promote from within, a report by CIEL HR Services revealed.The analysis, based on a combination of publicly available sources including professional networking platforms, press releases and verified databases, found that nearly 62 per cent of senior hires in the manufacturing sector were external appointments over the past 12 months.Leadership churn was most pronounced at the top, with almost half (47 per cent) of all tracked movements occurring at the CEO, MD, or President level, signalling that boards are actively rethinking leadership for the future. “When nearly half of leadership moves are happening at the CEO and MD level, it tells us something profound. Manufacturing firms are not shying away from tough choices at the very top. Leadership today is being seen less as a position of stability and more as a lever of transformation,” CIEL HR Services Group CEO Aditya Mishra said, as quoted by news agency PTI.The automotive and auto components sector emerged as the most active segment, accounting for 35 per cent of all senior-level movements, reflecting the sector’s size, strategic importance, and fast-paced transformation agenda. Manufacturing overall contributed 23 per cent of leadership movements across industries, second only to IT and ITeS.Gender representation continues to lag, with women making up only 14 per cent of executive hires. However, women were more likely than men to be promoted internally—42 per cent of female hires rose through internal promotions compared to 36 per cent of men, the report noted. The auto sector led in gender representation, with women comprising 26 per cent of executive appointments, nearly double the industry average. Despite this, women leaders in the sector remain heavily concentrated in HR (30 per cent), highlighting a gap in operational, technology, and core business leadership roles, as per PTI.Geographically, Delhi/NCR dominated senior executive movements, accounting for 27 per cent of total transitions, followed by Mumbai with 18 per cent, while Bengaluru and Pune each accounted for 11 per cent of the moves, the report added.