How GCCs are Transforming Hiring Trends for Engineers in India
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are driving the most profound transformation in India’s engineering hiring landscape in decades. They have emerged as the fastest-growing employers of engineering talent, steadily overtaking traditional IT services giants such as Infosys, TCS, and Wipro.
What began as offshore support units has evolved into strategic global engineering and innovation hubs, fundamentally reshaping the scale, complexity, and quality of roles being created in India.
GCC headcounts are expanding at an 18–27% annual growth rate, far outpacing the 4–6% growth seen across IT services companies. Collectively, they are generating nearly 3 lakh new engineering jobs every year, underscoring a clear shift in where high-value technology work is being anchored.
This acceleration shows a structural realignment in tech hiring, as traditional IT firms navigate slower, more selective recruitment cycles while GCCs continue to scale aggressively around core engineering and product capabilities.
India’s Expanding GCC Footprint
India currently hosts 1,700+ GCCs, employing approximately 1.9 million professionals across technology, BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and aerospace sectors.
Analysts project this number to cross 2.5 million employees by the end of the decade, as more global enterprises expand or establish India-based centres.
Key metros such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, NCR, and Mumbai remain the primary Global Capability Centres (GCCs) hubs, while Tier-2 cities are emerging as attractive destinations due to talent availability and cost efficiency.
Shift from Support Roles to Core Engineering
The most striking change is the nature of work being handled by GCCs. These centres are now responsible for:
- Product engineering and platform development
- Cloud and infrastructure architecture
- Cybersecurity and risk engineering
- Semiconductor and chip design
- Advanced analytics and data science
GCCs increasingly own end-to-end product lifecycles, including intellectual property creation, patents, and global rollouts—functions once retained at headquarters.
AI and Deep Tech Fuel Hiring Momentum
Artificial intelligence has emerged as the single largest driver of engineering demand within GCCs. Estimates suggest 70,000–80,000 engineersin India’s GCC ecosystem are now working directly on AI, machine learning, and generative AI initiatives.
Importantly, AI hiring has a strong multiplier effect. For every core AI specialist, companies hire 3–5 additional engineers across:
- Full-stack and backend development
- Data engineering and MLOps
- Cloud operations and platform reliability
- Testing, governance, and compliance
This has resulted in sustained demand for both niche specialists and scalable engineering talent.
Changing Career Preferences for Engineers
GCCs are rapidly becoming employers of choice, particularly for mid- to senior-level engineers. Unlike traditional service roles, GCC positions offer:
- Direct alignment with global business strategy
- Exposure to large-scale, real-world products
- Faster decision-making and innovation cycles
- Competitive compensation and long-term career paths
This shift has also contributed to a partial reversal of brain drain, as experienced engineers choose to build global careers while remaining based in India.
Long-Term Impact on India’s Tech Ecosystem
The rise of GCCs signals a structural repositioning of India within the global technology value chain—from a delivery destination to a global centre of engineering excellence.
GCC revenues in India are expected to grow at a high single-digit to double-digit CAGR through the decade, driven by increased ownership of core digital capabilities.
For India’s engineering workforce, this evolution represents not just higher employment volumes but a qualitative upgrade in skills, influence, and global relevance.
As Global Capability Centres (GCCs) continue to scale, they are set to play a defining role in shaping the future of engineering careers and innovation in India.
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