India’s blue and grey-collar salaries grew 23 percent in two years: WorkIndia Report 2025
The WorkIndia Salary Report 2025 shows a 23 percent rise in blue- and grey-collar salaries over two years, driven by demand for skilled workers. Non-metros outpaced metros, freshers and graduates gained sharply, and IT/Data Entry led sectoral growth. However, gender pay gaps, wage volatility in part-time roles, and declines in Labour, Finance, and Healthcare highlight persistent challenges.
New Delhi: The salary of India's blue and grey collar workforce have increased by 23 percent over the past two years, reflecting the growing demand and oppurtunities for the skilled workforce said a report on Tuesday, September 30. The report is the product of the findings of WorkIndia Salary Report 2025 that conducted a survey of 1.93 lakh job seekers between 2023 and August 2025.
However, the report highlights some uneven growing trends too as male workers saw faster salary increases at 9 percent, compared to 6 percent for women, indicating persistent gender pay gaps.
"The 23 per cent salary growth over the past two years shows that opportunities for India's blue- and grey-collar workforce are expanding rapidly. Yet persistent gender gaps, industry inequalities, and wage volatility remind us that there's still work to be done," said Nilesh Dungarwal, WorkIndia co-founder and CEO as quoted by PTI.
Non Metro cities have been an outlier when it comes to average rise in salaries as compared to the metro cities. Non metro cities recorded a 14 percent average rise in salaries as compared to the 10 percent rise observed in metro cities only, positioning smaller cities as key growth drivers.
The outcome of the report was also shaped by the type of employment. The annual hikes of full-time jobs maintained steady between 10 and 15 percent hikes, whereas part-time roles witnessed a fluctuation with a 32 percent surge in 2024 followed by a 12 percent decline in 2025. Work-from-office positions consistently delivered double-digit growth, contrasting with stagnant work-from-home jobs.
Other factors that came in were experience and education, which remained decisive factors. Freshers saw salaries climbing between 12 and 13 percent in 2024–25, while experienced professionals recorded 8–14% annual growth. Graduates enjoyed the sharpest jump, with average maximum salaries up 18 percent in 2025.