Nykaa to Swiggy, startups bet on young talent as campus hiring soars 15%

The job landscape in India is undergoing a major shift with the rapid growth of new-age companies such as Nykaa-owned FSN ecommerce, Eternal Ltd, Swiggy, One97 Communication, among other others. These firms are actively recruiting a younger workforce, with an average age below 40, fuelled by rising AI-related spending and training initiatives.

Talent acquisition teams at new-age firms are scouting young professionals to build a future-ready workforce. For instance, Nykaa onboarded 843 employees aged between 18 and 30 years in fiscal year 2025. The beauty and lifestyle omnichannel firm reported that 78% of its employees were under the age of 35 as of 31 March 2025.

According to Arindam Mukherjee, Co-Founder and CEO of NextLeap, new-age organizations are primarily focusing on the GenZ workforce because of their technology edge.

"As we see a shift towards an AI driven workplace, organisations are looking for talent with a digital native mindset and a bias towards learning new skills. This makes for a perfect match and hence we are seeing many companies hiring from a younger talent pool," Mukherjee said.

Food and grocery delivery startup Swiggy Ltd boasts a young, diverse and energetic team of 7,431 headcount. "We continue to strengthen our early talent pipeline through national campus programmes, internships, and management trainee initiatives," the company said.

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Cred's founder Kunal Shah believes that most innovation comes from young people or young companies run by young people. "It’s harder for older people to remain creative as they lose the ability to look at things from a brand new perspective," Shah noted.

According to the TeamLease career outlook report for the second-half of 2025, the intent to hire freshers surged to 70%, led-by digital-first sectors.

Krishna Chaitanya Malladi, Partner at Deloitte India, underscored low per capita costs as another key reason startups prefer hiring younger talent. "Organizations with young talent are viewed as more agile in responding to market needs, while also keeping per capita costs low," Malladi said.

'Demographic rebalancing'

With a slew of startups springing up across the country, the hiring younger talent is expected to create a demographic rebalance in the job sector, experts said.

Notably, DPIIT-recognised startups have generated 1.5–1.7 million direct jobs to date. The average working age across most new-age startups (consumer tech companies less than 10 years old) is around 31 years, according to Malladi.

A Deloitte’s Campus Hiring report revealed that the average talent acquisition budget, excluding compensation, increased by 15% year-on-year in FY25 to Rs 4.41 crore. Of the 238 surveyed companies, 77% had a dedicated campus hiring team during the last fiscal year.

Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO, TeamLease Edtech said younger hires are increasingly filling execution-heavy and specialist roles, while experienced talent is moving into mentoring, governance, and scale-up positions.

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"If we keep investing in structured skilling, apprenticeships, and manager development, we’ll blend energy with experience and lift productivity across cohorts," Rooj said.

However, Sashi Kumar, Managing Director of Indeed India, noted that experienced professionals remain critical for leadership, strategy, and mentorship.

"Ultimately, the future of work here won’t be about young versus experienced, but how organisations blend fresh energy with seasoned expertise to build resilient, future-ready teams," Kumar added.

'Mutual interest'

At the same time, younger generations have shown greater interest in working at new-age companies than traditional firms.

According to Nirajita Banerjee Head of Editorial and Community Management, LinkedIn India, 43% of Gen Z professionals in India say a meaningful career is not about titles or paychecks, but about the opportunity to acquire future-ready skills.

"That’s a big shift. It shows this generation is less focused on chasing higher salaries and more intent on finding growth, impact, and relevance in a fast-changing world," Banerjee said.

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"Younger professionals find these workplaces attractive because of flatter hierarchies, faster growth paths, and the chance to wear multiple hats--though compensation continues to be a decisive factor across the board," Kumar added.

Startups appeal to young workforce because they move at the speed of ideas and offer the excitement of shaping something from the ground up.

"This is a generation that’s simply unwilling to accept passive careers. They want growth and purpose, and the companies that provide both will be the ones ready for the future of work," Banerjee said.