Millennials, Gen Z make up two-thirds of all blue collar job applications: Report

In the blue collar category, Millennials and Gen Z continued to remain among the country’s highest job-seeking population, accounting for 65 per cent of all job applications in 2024 as well as 2025, a report said on Saturday.

Among these, the surge in job seeking has been most among the 20-23-year cohort, which saw a 50.7 per cent year-on-year increase in applications, according to a report by blue and grey-collar job platform WorkIndia.

This youngest working-age group, largely comprising recent graduates, contributed to an 85.5 per cent rise in applications, reflecting a strong intent to enter the workforce early, it stated.

Even candidates with lower formal education levels (below 10^th standard) showed a 37.4 per cent growth, indicating a widening base of job readiness and aspiration across educational backgrounds, the report added.

Millennials are those between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s and Gen Zs are those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s.

The report is based on data analysis of 111.71 million job seekers on the WorkIndia platform from January 2024 to July 2025.

The report further revealed that while both young men and women are actively applying for jobs early in their careers, gender dynamics reveal some divergence in the late-20s.

Women application rates in the 27-29-year age group have stagnated, while those of their male counterparts continued to rise, indicating the need for a closer look at career drop-offs or barriers for women in that age bracket.

It also found the growing willingness to travel for jobs, reflecting increased flexibility among the youth.

Applications for ‘labourer’ roles surged by 98 per cent, with a surge of 136 per cent increase among 20-23-year-olds.

Other fast-growing job categories include typist and data entry roles (67 per cent) and law-related positions (61 per cent), followed by steady interest in sales, HR, and manufacturing roles, said the report.

Meanwhile the report found that job applications from tier-IV cities jumped 54.9 per cent, suggesting that local economies are beginning to thrive and that candidates are increasingly seeking viable careers closer to home.

“From Tier I cities to Tier IV towns, we’re witnessing a workforce that is bold, mobile, and hungry for growth. It’s a clear signal that India’s next big leap will come from the ground up, and platforms like ours have a responsibility to fuel that momentum,” WorkIndia CEO and co-founder Nilesh Dungarwal said.