New Delhi: India’s job market is surging ahead with renewed momentum in 2025, as revealed by Apna’s latest “India at Work – Q1 2025” report. The platform witnessed a record-breaking 1.81 crore job applications, a 30 per cent increase from the previous year, reflecting India’s growing economic optimism and digital hiring boom across sectors.
Women’s participation in the workforce soared, with over 62 lakh applications—a 23 per cent year-on-year jump. Notably, applications from women for enterprise roles doubled, marking a 92 per cent surge. This growth was most pronounced in Tier two and three cities such as Chandigarh, Indore and Jamshedpur, driven by flexible work options, gender-inclusive hiring, and expanded opportunities in sectors like BPO, finance and HR.
Freshers also powered India’s employment engine, contributing over 66 lakh applications—a 46 per cent YoY increase. With companies increasingly recruiting from beyond metro cities, emerging talent hubs like Rajkot, Warangal and Meerut are now part of the mainstream hiring narrative.
On the supply side, Apna saw 3.1 lakh job postings, up 26 per cent from Q1 2024. SMBs led the charge, posting over 2.1 lakh jobs, including 28,547 roles exclusively for women. Enterprise hiring rose sharply with companies like LIC, Paytm, Delhivery and Flipkart creating over one lakh openings, expanding recruitment beyond metros and tapping into the national talent pool.
Reflecting on India’s evolving workforce, Nirmit Parikh, Founder & CEO of Apna, shared:
“When we launched Apna, we weren’t just building a jobs platform — we were building a movement to unlock access for every Indian, regardless of their pin code or past experience. In Q1 2025, too, we witnessed this vision materialise in ways we had always hoped for. From Delhi to Dehradun, Surat to Samastipur, we saw hiring become truly decentralised. Tier two and Tier three cities contributed over 40 per cent of new users, with many of them showing double-digit growth in job applications. Applications from women for enterprise roles didn’t just rise, they saw a 92 per cent leap. Fresher applications crossed 66 lakh. Enterprises scaled hiring into non-metro regions, and SMBs emerged as the largest job creators, not just in metros, but across 900+ cities. The hiring process itself is evolving too, with AI now matching candidates faster, improving conversion rates, and empowering job seekers to prepare smarter. We’re seeing people find not just any job, but the right job, faster than ever before. In just one quarter, over 1.81 crore job applications were submitted on Apna. That’s not just a statistic — it’s 1.81 crore stories of determination. From Tier one metros to the most remote Tier three towns, India is not just working — India is winning. And Apna is proud to be enabling that revolution.”
India’s digital transformation continues to gain momentum, particularly in Tier two cities, where the demand for advanced tech talent is soaring. In Q1 2025, Apna recorded a remarkable 65.4 per cent increase in job postings for Software or Web Developer roles, alongside a 42.2 per cent rise in fresher applications for these positions compared to the previous year.
This surge highlights the growing need for specialised professionals in fields such as AI or ML, cybersecurity, business intelligence, and data-driven operations, as enterprises in these regions expand their digital capabilities.
While traditional tech hubs like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai maintain their dominance, cities such as Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Rajkot, and Warangal are rapidly emerging as key players in the tech hiring landscape. These cities have experienced a 30 to 50 per cent year-on-year growth in tech job applications, driven by increased access to engineering talent, certifications, and stronger digital infrastructure. The rise of remote-first work models has further enabled these cities to tap into a broader pool of tech professionals.
With India’s digital economy on track to reach one trillion dollars by 2030, the shift toward decentralised tech talent hubs is gaining momentum. Tier two and Tier three cities are no longer just participating in India’s tech revolution — they are at the forefront of driving the country’s digital future, fostering innovation, and reshaping the tech hiring landscape for the years to come.
With AI-driven hiring tools reducing time-to-hire and improving candidate matches, Apna continues to drive inclusive growth by connecting India’s vast and diverse talent pool with relevant opportunities across over 200 job categories.
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