Global Capability Centres are driving India’s fastest tech hiring shift in 2025. Multinational firms are expanding in-house AI and engineering teams. TeamLease Digital and Economic Times data show GCC hiring now outpaces traditional IT services.
GCC replaces IT services as top tech recruiters
GCCs are expanding headcount by 18–27% year-on-year, according to TeamLease Digital. IT services firms are growing at 4–6%. GCCs now add about 300,000 jobs annually, while IT services create 25,000–40,000 roles.
India’s GCC workforce rose from 1.2 million in 2022 to nearly 1.9 million in 2025. Industry estimates project employment to reach 2.8 million by 2030. Global companies continue to expand operations across Indian cities.
Multinationals internalise high-value tech work
More than 90 new GCCs opened in India in 2025, while over 150 existing centres expanded. ANSR reported this growth. Global companies are moving key tech work from vendors to internal teams based in India.
Vikram Ahuja, co-founder of ANSR, said companies now prioritise multi-disciplinary engineering teams rather than execution-focused outsourcing. TeamLease Digital CEO Neeti Sharma said the hiring gap between GCCs and IT services exceeds 20 percentage points.
AI talent concentrates inside GCC ecosystem
India has over 1,700 GCCs employing more than 126,600 people in AI-related roles. An ANSR–Wizmatic report confirmed this. About 18,300 employees work in core AI areas such as machine learning, GenAI and MLOps.
For every core AI hire, GCCs add five to six engineers across software, data and platform operations. India’s AI talent pool grew 252% between 2016 and 2024, reaching 2.5 times the global average concentration.
Pay premiums, office demand and job market impact
GCCs pay higher salaries than IT services firms. Engineers earn 15–25% more, while AI roles pay up to 40% more. Offer acceptance rates reach 60–70%, while IT firms face more job cuts and declined offers.
Government data shows GCC revenues rising from $40.4 billion in FY2019 to $64.6 billion in FY2024. The sector is expected to reach $105 billion by the end of the decade as India consolidates its role as a global hub for AI and digital engineering.
