At 5.1 lakh jobs, India's Global Capability Centre hiring boom scales new peak

India's Global Capability Centre (GCC) hiring is on track to cross the five-lakh mark for the first time this year, with recruitment projected to reach 510,452 jobs in 2026, a 3.4-fold increase since 2021. The country is now home to nearly 2,120 GCCs, reflecting both new centre launches and the expansion of existing operations.

Nearly two in three new GCC roles created in 2026 (64%) now require AI, data science or intelligent automation skills, according to the latest foundit Insights Tracker (fit). Technology & Software and BFSI continue to dominate recruitment, together accounting for 56% of all GCC hiring, followed by healthcare & life sciences (11%), manufacturing & industrial (9%), retail & consumer (7%), automotive & mobility (6%), telecom & media (5%), logistics & supply chain (4%) and energy, chemicals & others (2%).

The momentum comes despite a slowdown in the broader white-collar job market. Overall hiring declined 5% month-on-month and 9% year-on-year in June 2026, while GCC recruitment remained resilient, with 227,991 hires recorded in the first six months of the year, up 11% over the corresponding period last year.

Tier 2 cities power the hiring wave

While Bengaluru continues to dominate GCC hiring with a 30% share, up 10% year-on-year, Tier 2 cities are witnessing the fastest growth, expanding at 23% year-on-year, nearly twice the pace of metro markets. Together, these emerging hubs now account for 15% of all GCC hiring.

Among the major metros, Hyderabad accounts for 15% of GCC hiring, growing 15% year-on-year, followed by Pune at 12% (up 11%), Mumbai at 11% (up 8%), Chennai at 9% and Delhi NCR at 8%.

The report attributes the rapid rise of Tier 2 cities to growing investments in engineering, analytics and AI-enabled operations. Cities such as Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam are attracting GCC investments, supported by strong talent availability and significantly lower attrition rates of 8–12%, compared with 18–22% in Tier 1 cities.

Experience matters

Professionals with 4 to 10 years of experience account for 56% of GCC hiring, including 34% in the 4 to 6 years bracket and 22% in the 7 to 10 years category, reflecting demand for specialists in engineering, AI, cloud and digital transformation initiatives.

At the same time, early-career talent (0–3 years) represents 30% of GCC hiring and is the fastest-growing segment, expanding 18% year-on-year, fuelled by GCC expansion into Tier 2 cities. Meanwhile, professionals with 11 to 15 years of experience account for 10% of hiring, while those with more than 15 years of experience make up the remaining 4%.

AI and engineering roles top chart

Technology and digital functions account for more than three-fourths of GCC hiring, led by IT & Software Development (31%), AI, Data Science & Analytics (18%), Engineering & Product R&D (16%) and Cloud & Cybersecurity (11%). AI, Data Science & Analytics is the fastest-growing function, expanding 38% year-on-year.

Beyond technology roles, BFSI Operations & Shared Services account for 9% of hiring, followed by Finance & Accounting (6%), HR, Talent & Administration (4%), Sales, Marketing & Customer Success (3%), and Legal, Compliance & Others (2%).

The report says the hiring pattern reflects a clear evolution in the GCC ecosystem, with the fastest growth concentrated in AI, cloud and product development roles, signalling a move away from traditional shared-services functions towards innovation-led capabilities.

Financial services, technology lead hiring intensity

Hiring intensity varies significantly across India's GCC sectors, with BFSI & FinTech and Technology & Software recruiting well above their share of GCC centres. 

BFSI & FinTech records the highest hiring intensity at 1.17x, followed by Technology & Software at 1.13x, indicating that both sectors are expanding headcount faster than their existing GCC footprint.

Healthcare & Life Sciences (0.92x), Manufacturing & Industrial (0.90x), Retail & Consumer (0.88x), Automotive & Mobility (0.86x), Telecom & Media (0.83x), and Logistics & Supply Chain (0.80x) hire broadly in line with or slightly below, their share of GCCs.

At the other end of the spectrum, Energy, Chemicals & Others records the lowest hiring intensity at 0.50x, suggesting that while these sectors have an established GCC presence, workforce expansion has yet to match their footprint. According to the report, this indicates untapped capacity as these centres continue to scale.

“Companies are no longer setting up Global Capability Centres simply to reduce costs. They are building them to develop the AI, engineering and product capabilities that run their global businesses. India offers the depth of talent to do this at scale, and the growing pull of Tier 2 cities shows how far that capability now extends beyond the traditional metros," said Tarun Sinha, CEO, Foundit.

The widening gap between GCC recruitment and the broader white-collar market highlights the resilience of India's capability centre ecosystem. As AI becomes a core skill across engineering, product and operations roles, GCCs are increasingly positioning India as a strategic hub for building global AI and digital capabilities rather than traditional support functions.