Jaw-Dropping Gender Divide: Diwali’s Festive Chores Hit Women’s Ambition Twice as Hard, according to WorkIndia’s Latest Survey

India, 15^th October 2025 – WorkIndia, India’s leading blue and grey-collar recruitment platform, has released new insights showing how Diwali, the festival of lights, reshapes digital job-seeking behaviour across the country. Comparing the week preceding Diwali with the festival week, the analysis reveals how India collectively “powers down” during this festive period.

The study highlights a 16% decline in Daily Active Users, meaning that for every seven active job seekers in the pre-Diwali week, approximately one user paused their job search during the festival. The impact is notably uneven across genders, with female engagement falling 20%, over 34% deeper than the 13% drop among male users, signalling that festive responsibilities disproportionately affect women’s job-seeking activity.

Engagement frequency also dipped sharply, with the average number of app opens per candidate falling by one-third (33%). While some users remained technically active, their habitual use of the app was curtailed, reflecting a behavioural shift where job-seeking takes a backseat to celebration and family priorities.

The Diwali period also saw a dramatic decline in employer activity. Job postings across the platform plunged 48%, affecting all industries uniformly. This reduction in opportunities immediately translated into fewer applications, with the overall volume of Jobs Applied by candidates dropping 29% between the pre-Diwali and Diwali week.

Mr Nilesh Dungarwal, CEO & Co-founder of WorkIndia, commented: “Our data clearly shows that India’s labour market doesn’t function linearly; it breathes with its festivals. During Diwali, candidates and employers alike take a collective pause. Even in a digital hiring era, culture is the strongest driver of behaviour. Users aren’t just pausing their job search, they are mentally switching off, prioritising celebration and family over work.”

This “Great Diwali Pause” underscores how deeply cultural rhythms influence work and digital engagement in India. For businesses and recruiters, understanding these patterns is crucial to planning hiring campaigns and talent acquisition strategies around major festivals.

Overall, WorkIndia’s insights reveal how cultural rhythms shape India’s employment landscape. During festive periods like Diwali, both candidate engagement and employer activity temporarily slow down, highlighting the human side of job-seeking behaviour. While opportunities return steadily after the festival, the data shows that engagement patterns, gender participation, and application activity are deeply influenced by cultural priorities, underscoring the importance of timing and behavioural understanding in India’s dynamic labour market.