India now hosts over 1,700 Global Capability Centers employing more than 1.9 million professionals. What started as cost arbitrage for back-office functions has evolved into something far more strategic — these centres are now home to core product engineering, AI research, cybersecurity operations, and enterprise architecture for some of the world's largest companies.
For staffing professionals, GCC expansion represents both the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge in Indian IT recruitment. The opportunity: GCCs are hiring aggressively and paying premium compensation. The challenge: they are competing for the same talent pool as product companies, well-funded startups, and other GCCs, creating a talent war with no clear end in sight.
The Scale of GCC Growth
The numbers tell a compelling story:
- India's GCC market is projected to reach 110 billion USD by 2030, up from approximately 64 billion in 2024
- Over 90 new GCCs were established in India in 2025 alone
- The average GCC in India now employs 600-800 professionals, up from 300-400 five years ago
- GCC hiring accounted for approximately 30 percent of all mid-to-senior tech hiring in India during 2025
This growth is driven by three factors: mature Indian tech talent, favourable economics (even at premium local salaries, India offers 60-70 percent cost savings over US/EU equivalents), and the proven ability of Indian engineers to operate as core contributors rather than support functions.
Staffing Requirements: What GCCs Need
GCC hiring is qualitatively different from typical Indian IT services hiring. Here is what defines GCC talent requirements:
Higher Seniority Distribution
Unlike IT services companies where the pyramid is wide at the bottom (70 percent junior, 20 percent mid, 10 percent senior), GCCs typically target a more even distribution (30 percent junior, 40 percent mid, 30 percent senior). They need engineers who can operate independently with minimal hand-holding, contribute to architectural decisions, and collaborate directly with headquarters teams in different time zones.
Product Engineering Mindset
GCC roles are not about executing specifications handed down from HQ. Increasingly, GCCs own entire product lines or platform components end to end. This means hiring engineers with a product mindset — people who understand business context, make trade-off decisions, and think about user impact rather than just code quality.
Cross-Cultural Communication Skills
Engineers in GCCs collaborate daily with teams in the US, Europe, or other global locations. Written communication, async collaboration skills, and the ability to articulate technical decisions in business language are not nice-to-haves — they are essential.
Domain Expertise
GCCs in financial services need engineers who understand regulatory requirements. Healthcare GCCs need people comfortable with HIPAA and clinical data. Automotive GCCs need embedded systems expertise. The domain layer adds specificity that generalist recruiters struggle to evaluate.
The Tier-2 City Expansion
The most significant GCC trend reshaping the staffing landscape is expansion beyond Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune into tier-2 cities:
Coimbatore — Growing hub for automotive and manufacturing GCCs, leveraging the engineering talent from PSG Tech and other local institutions. Salary expectations are 25-35 percent lower than Bengaluru for equivalent roles.
Kochi — Infosys BPM, UST Global, and several fintech GCCs have established operations here. Strong talent pool in Java, cloud, and full-stack development.
Jaipur — Emerging as a hub for AI/ML and data engineering, with competitive costs and a growing tech ecosystem supported by IIIT and MNIT graduates.
Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar — GIFT City is attracting financial services GCCs with special economic zone benefits and a growing talent pool.
Chandigarh / Mohali — Established IT corridor with cost advantages and proximity to the Delhi NCR talent pool for hybrid arrangements.
For staffing partners, tier-2 expansion creates both challenges and opportunities. The talent pools are smaller, requiring more creative sourcing strategies. But candidates in these cities are often more loyal, with lower attrition rates than their metro counterparts.
Our staff augmentation model is particularly well-suited for GCCs establishing tier-2 operations, providing an immediate team while the permanent hiring pipeline is built.
Build vs. Outsource: The GCC Staffing Decision
Companies setting up GCCs face a fundamental staffing decision: build the hiring capability in-house or partner with staffing firms? In practice, most successful GCCs use a hybrid model:
Phase 1: Seed Team (Months 0-6)
The first 15-30 hires are critical — they set the culture, define processes, and establish the GCC's reputation in the local talent market. Most companies use a combination of:
- [Executive search](/services/executive-search) for the GCC head and leadership team
- [Permanent staffing](/services/permanent-staffing) partnerships for senior engineering hires
- Internal HR team for culture-critical roles
Getting the seed team wrong is extremely expensive. These initial hires become the talent magnets (or repellents) for everyone who follows.
Phase 2: Rapid Scale (Months 6-18)
Once the seed team is in place and the engineering culture is established, GCCs typically need to scale to 100-300 people within a year. This requires:
- [Bulk hiring](/services/bulk-hiring) capabilities for junior-to-mid roles
- [Contract hiring](/services/contract-hiring) for project-specific needs during the ramp
- [Staff augmentation](/services/staff-augmentation) to fill gaps while permanent recruitment catches up
- Campus hiring programmes for fresh graduate pipelines
No single staffing partner can handle all of this alone. Smart GCCs maintain 2-3 staffing relationships with complementary strengths.
Phase 3: Steady State (Month 18+)
Once the GCC is at scale, hiring shifts to replacement and growth hiring at a more sustainable pace. Internal TA teams handle most volume, with staffing partners retained for:
- [Niche recruitment](/services/niche-recruitment) for hard-to-fill specialisations
- [Executive search](/services/executive-search) for leadership additions
- Burst hiring for new team or product launches
The Talent Competition Problem
The surge in GCC hiring has created intense competition for a finite talent pool. Here is how it plays out:
Salary inflation. GCCs pay 20-40 percent above IT services companies for equivalent roles and experience levels. This has created a talent drain from services to GCCs and forced salary corrections across the industry.
Counteroffer culture. When a GCC makes an offer, the candidate's current employer — whether another GCC, a product company, or an IT services firm — almost always counteroffers. Acceptance rates for GCC offers hover around 70-75 percent after accounting for counteroffers.
Notice period chaos. Indian IT's 60-90 day notice periods mean GCCs are waiting two to three months for candidates to join, during which anything can happen — a better offer, a counteroffer acceptance, or a change of mind.
Brand recognition challenges. While names like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon attract applicants by brand alone, lesser-known GCC parents (mid-market US and European companies) struggle with brand awareness in India. Employer branding is a critical investment that many GCCs underestimate.
Practical Advice for GCC Hiring Leaders
- Invest in employer branding before you start hiring. Build a LinkedIn presence, sponsor local tech meetups, contribute to open source, and publish engineering blog posts. Candidates research employers extensively before applying.
- Build relationships with niche staffing partners early. Do not wait until you have an urgent requirement. The best staffing partners invest in understanding your culture, technical standards, and hiring bar — that takes time.
- Design your interview process for speed. Aim for offer within 2 weeks of first contact. Every additional day in the process increases the probability of losing the candidate to a competitor.
- Solve the notice period problem. Consider notice period buy-outs for critical hires, offer joining bonuses that bridge the gap, or maintain a pipeline so you are always a few months ahead of actual need.
- Pay for retention, not just acquisition. The most expensive hire is the one who leaves after six months. Retention bonuses, clear career progression, and genuine learning opportunities reduce attrition in ways that salary alone cannot.
If you are setting up or scaling a GCC in India and need a staffing partner who understands the nuances, let us have a conversation. Our team has supported GCC hiring across seed, scale, and steady-state phases.
