Women, Early-Career Talent Fuel 29% Rise In Job Applications In 2025

Job applications witnessed 29% year-on-year growth in 2025, driven by higher participation from women and early-career professionals as service-led hiring expanded, a report said on Monday.

The year 2025 was a progressive year in India's job marketplace, with over 9 crore job applications during the year, an estimated 29% year-on-year increase, driven by higher participation from women and early-career professionals as service-led hiring expanded beyond metros and digital recruitment tools became mainstream, according to Apna.co's ‘India at Work 2025' report.

Women's participation rose sharply, reflected in an estimated 36% increase in applications for finance, administrative services, customer experience and healthcare support roles, said the report.

Freshers also entered the job market with stronger intent, contributing to roughly 10% more applications across service and technology-enabled industries, it said.

The report is based on extensive primary research of the year-on-year analysis of data from the Apna.co platform for the calendar year 2025.

Further, the report revealed that with nearly 1 crore young people joining the workforce every year, early-career talent played a defining role in shaping hiring momentum.

Job postings on Apna.co platform rose to 14 lakh in 2025, up by around 15% year-on-year, supported by stronger digital adoption among small and medium businesses and continued enterprise expansion into tier II and III cities.

The report found that demand remained broad-based across BFSI, retail, logistics, e-commerce, healthcare, mobility and IT services.

SMBs contributed 10 lakh job postings, recording an 11% year-on-year increase, while enterprises accounted for 4 lakh postings, growing 14% YoY, reinforcing a more geographically distributed hiring footprint, said the report.

It revealed that women submitted over 3.8 crore job applications in 2025, marking an estimated 36% increase from the previous year.

Tier I cities accounted for roughly 2 crore applications, while tier II and III cities contributed around 1.8 crore, reflecting nearly 30 percent growth in emerging markets.

Average salaries for women rose by an estimated 22%, aligned with higher entry into finance, administrative and customer experience roles. Applications for managerial and senior positions crossed 1.1 crore, up 35% year-on-year, indicating a gradual strengthening of leadership pipelines.