India’s Global Capability Centre ecosystem experienced a 12–14% quarter-on-quarter growth in hiring during Q4 FY26, transitioning from selective optimization in Q3 to broader recovery-led expansion, as per a report by Quess Corp. Replacement hiring surged, constituting 40% of all recruitment, driven by Gen Z employees with tenure expectations under 24 months. GCCs are now challenged to balance aggressive expansion with organizational continuity.
“As GCCs become strategic global hubs, the focus needs to shift towards balancing rapid scale with long-term capability building for sustained growth,” stated Kapil Joshi, CEO of IT Staffing. Demand remains high in AI-driven capabilities, platform engineering, and infrastructure modernization, but talent shortages hinder scaling pace.
The BFSI sector faces a 42% skill gap in AI and data roles, leading to salary premiums of 1.5 to 2.5 times to attract specialized professionals. Shortages in platform engineering and cloud infrastructure range from 32–36% and 28–32% respectively. The bottleneck lies in the scarcity of specialized expertise, necessitating internal upskilling initiatives.
The growth in GCC hiring was supported by an expanding active GCC footprint, reflecting renewed enterprise confidence. Although hiring was concentrated in Tier-1 cities, accounting for 88–90% of GCC recruitment, Tier-2 cities saw a share increase to 10–12%. Tier-1 hubs still handle half of all complex technical mandates, following a “hub-and-spoke” model for innovation and operational scale.
