Mumbai: Job applications witnessed 29 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent year-on-year increase, while enterprises accounted for 4 lakh postings, growing 14 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent, aligned with higher entry into finance, administrative and customer experience roles. Applications for managerial and senior positions crossed 1.1 crore, up 35 per cent year-on-year, indicating a gradual strengthening of leadership pipelines.
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