Early in 2025, a striking data point made its rounds across Indian HR circuits: over half of the “entry-level” job postings required a minimum of one year of experience. A widely cited analysis, titled “Now Hiring: The Already Hired,” captured the contradiction perfectly roles meant for fresh graduates increasingly require them to be “industry-ready” even before stepping into the industry. This is the entry-level paradox: overqualified academically, underqualified by the recruiters. The...

Suppose you crack a promising “internship” at a fast-growing startup straight out of college, you celebrate first and then discover the fine print. The role requires full-time hours and real operational work but comes with one stark omission: No stipend! “It’s exposure,” your manager says. This is when you realize a deeper problem now breathing down the neck of freshers and young talent everywhere, that is the normalization of unpaid, precarious and opaque work that blurs learning with...

In September 2025, Amazon India announced the creation of over 150,000 seasonal job opportunities to meet festive demand. Soon after, Flipkart revealed that it would hire more than 100,000 temporary and gig workers across its supply chain, including warehousing, delivery, and customer support. These announcements marked the start of one of India’s largest annual hiring surges. Each year, the Indian job market undergoes a transformation during the festival season. The months leading up to...