In a First, Tech Captives in India Score Hire than IT Services Cos

Captive service arms of large multinational firms, also known as global capability centres (GCCs), emerged as the top hirers of technology talent during the first quarter this fiscal, beating IT services companies for the first time and marking a churn in the recruitment profile of India’s $250-billion software services sector, according to industry data.

Data published by hiring major Quess Corp showed that during Q1 of FY25, GCC hiring demand jumped by a significant 46% over the year ago period.

This trend aligns with the increasing focus of global corporations on establishing or expanding their innovation centres in India and highlights their rising weightage in the country’s technology export space.

Kapil Joshi, CEO—IT staffing at Quess Corp, said that GCCs filled up over 60% or two-thirds of the market demand and “definitely surpassed” IT service firms in the first quarter of FY25. Noting that is an industry first, he added this will continue with newer centres coming up and established ones expanding their operations.

Hiring executives point to FY24 as the year when demand for technology talent by GCCs began to outstrip that from the once dominant Indian IT services companies.

Xpheno cofounder Anil Ethanur, said net headcount growth of IT services firms by end-FY24 was at 50,000 while that of GCCs had risen to 60,000.

India currently houses around 1,600 GCCs, employing over 1.66 million people with a revenue share of $46 billion, according to industry body Nasscom.

An EY report estimates that by 2030, the number of India-based GCCs will increase to 2,400, contributing $110 billion in revenues and employing 4.5 million people.

Krishna Vij, business head for IT staffing, Teamlease Digital Services is of the view that as GCCs increasingly leverage India as a strategic hub for critical operations and talent acquisition, they will emerge as the top hirers in the technology industry for fiscal 2025.

Already, GCCs are wooing talent away from IT services firms, especially at senior level roles. Careernet cofounder and CEO Anshuman Das said salaries within GCCs have risen substantially over the past 3-5 years, with the average pay now 30-40% higher than those paid by IT services firms.

“For product-based GCCs, salaries are approximately 80-100% higher, and in large tech companies, they can be 2-3 times higher than in traditional IT services.

“This reflects the high demand for skilled tech professionals and the competitive nature of the market,” he added.

Careernet’s numbers show the total estimated talent employed in GCCs has grown from 1.3 million in FY20 to 1.9 million in FY24, with the number of GCCs increasing from 1,300 to 1,700 during the same period.

To be sure, the diversified GCC cohort also employs around 215,000 non-tech professionals and approximately 640,000 in tech roles.

According to Das, “The trend towards tech hiring has accelerated in the past five years, driven by the demand for roles in data engineering, cloud computing, AI, and cybersecurity.”