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India’s organised employment market is seeing shrinking space for freshers, alongside increasingly short job tenures, according to staffing firm Quess Corp’s FY26 Pulse Report, released on Wednesday.
Employers are increasingly prioritising professionals with four to 10 years of experience, the report said. In the global capability centre (GCC) segment, the share of fresher hiring fell to 15 per cent in 2025 from 28 per cent in 2024, as companies increasingly sought specialised and “deployment-ready” talent.
“High workforce mobility remains a challenge, with replacement hiring accounting for nearly 40 per cent of hiring demand among Gen Z talent due to average tenure dropping below 24 months,” the report noted.
The decline in fresher hiring came even as GCC hiring accelerated. India had more than 2,100 GCCs, with hiring rising to 12-14 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q4FY26 from 4-6 per cent in Q3FY26. GCCs accounted for nearly 27 per cent of India’s IT hiring demand in 2025, up from 15 per cent in 2024, the report said.
The demand for specialised skills was particularly strong, with hiring demand for AI and data roles rising 38-45 per cent year-on-year between March 2024 and March 2025, while generative AI hiring surged 178 per cent. Mid-career professionals with four to 10 years of experience accounted for nearly 65 per cent of AI hiring demand, according to the report.
Quess data also showed that workers aged 15-29 had a median tenure of 13 months, compared with 20 months for workers aged 30-60. Younger workers also recorded higher attrition.
“Younger workers continue to exhibit significantly higher attrition and shorter employment duration. Half of younger workers exit employment within 13 months, while older cohorts typically remain employed for nearly 20 months. Short-cycle employment is increasingly being driven by project-based staffing, seasonal demand cycles, frontline workforce churn, and fixed-term employment models,” said the report.
The broader labour market data also point to continuing difficulties in the transition from education to employment. Among those aged 15-29, the labour force participation rate was 46 per cent, and the worker population ratio was 41.5 per cent. The unemployment rate for urban youth was 14.1 per cent, higher than the overall unemployment rate of 9.9 per cent.
“Youth unemployment continues to remain significantly higher than the national average. Female youth participation remains structurally lower, with female youth LFPR at 27.5 per cent compared to 64 per cent for males,” the report said.
The NEET (not in education, employment, or training) rate was 25 per cent, with the NEET rate for women at 42.2 per cent and only 8 per cent for men.
“One-fourth of India’s youth population remains outside employment, education, or training systems. Female workforce participation gaps remain one of India’s largest structural labour challenges. Economic necessity continues to remain a key factor influencing early workforce entry among younger workers,” the report said.
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