Unstop Talent Report 2025: GenZ Faces Job Crunch, Turns to Side Hustles Amid Pay Gaps

In a revealing insight into the current state of campus hiring and youth employment, Unstop, a community engagement and hiring platform for students and graduates, has published its Talent Report 2025—and the numbers are eye-opening.

🚫 A Harsh Reality for Graduates

The report shows that a staggering 83% of engineering graduates and 46% of business school graduates are still without a job or internship offer. This data points to a growing disconnect between academic qualifications and employability in today’s competitive market.

The findings are based on responses from over 30,000 GenZ professionals and 700 HR leaders, with participation from 72% engineering schools, 16% business schools, and 12% arts, science, and commerce colleges.

💼 The Rise of Freelancing and Side Hustles

With traditional employment becoming harder to secure, GenZ is shifting gears. The report reveals that 51% of young professionals are now building multiple income streams through freelancing, gig work, and side hustles. This figure jumps to 59% among business school students, reflecting a growing entrepreneurial mindset.

📊 Gender Pay Gaps Persist—Except in B-Schools and E-Schools

One of the most striking insights is the gender pay gap across educational streams. According to the report:

• Two in three female arts & science graduates earn below ₹6 LPA.
• In contrast, most male graduates in the same stream surpass ₹6 LPA.
• However, pay parity exists in engineering and business schools, indicating progress in these disciplines toward gender-equal compensation.

🧠 Talent Engagement and Performance Expectations

The report also dives deep into how GenZ wants to be engaged and evaluated:

• 77% of GenZ prefer monthly or project-based reviews to stay aligned with goals.
• Yet, 71% of recruiters still use traditional check-ins like annual, biannual, or quarterly reviews.
• 70% of students are engaging in case studies, quizzes, ideathons, and simulations, though only 25% of recruiters prioritize these formats to assess talent.

🏫 Prestige No Longer a Priority

Another trend catching attention is that 73% of recruiters claim premier college tags don’t impact their hiring decisions, a shift that may level the playing field for students from tier-2 and tier-3 institutions.

📉 More Unpaid Internships and Sectoral Shifts

The number of students doing unpaid internships has doubled in a year—1 in 4 undergrads had unpaid roles in 2024, up from 1 in 8 in 2023.

Moreover, 25% of job offers are now coming from next-gen sectors like e-commerce, startups, and product-based companies, indicating a growing demand outside traditional industries.

🔮 What It All Means

The Unstop Talent Report 2025 paints a complex picture of the modern workforce. While job scarcity and pay gaps remain challenges, GenZ is responding with adaptability—embracing freelancing, flexible evaluations, and entrepreneurial gigs. Employers, in turn, may need to rethink engagement strategies, performance assessments, and compensation structures to attract and retain this evolving talent pool.