The opportunity to work on emerging areas like AI, digital platforms and global technology mandates has also made GCCs attractive to professionals looking to build specialised, future-ready skills
India is currently the world’s largest GCC hub, with over 1,850 centres employing nearly 2 million professionals. The country’s GCC sector generates around $64-65 billion in annual revenue.
GCCs have expanded rapidly, with hiring growing at approximately four times the rate of IT services firms, according to Sanketh Chengappa, Director and Business Head, Professional Staffing, Adecco India.
Recent workforce recalibrations and onboarding delays across parts of the IT services sector have also influenced candidate sentiment in the near term. As a result, many candidates are increasingly considering GCCs as an alternative route to stable, technology-focused careers. They are also seen as offering stronger long-term stability, given their direct integration with multinational parent organisations and emphasis on building in-house technology capabilities.
Many GCC roles are aligned with long-term product development, innovation and enterprise platforms, creating a perception of continuity compared to project-based delivery models. The opportunity to work on emerging areas like AI, digital platforms and global technology mandates has also made GCCs attractive to professionals looking to build specialised, future-ready skills.
“GCCs are outcompeting primarily on the nature of work itself. Candidates moving from IT services to GCCs are moving from execution to ownership, working on core technology initiatives that directly power the parent company’s global operations rather than delivering against a client-defined scope. This distinction is sharpest in product engineering, where GCCs offer depth that a services engagement structurally cannot,” Neelabh Shukla, Chief Business Officer, Careernet, explained.
Alongside, in key functional areas such as software development, engineering, data management and analytics, and product management, compensation packages offered by GCCs across entry, mid and senior levels in top in-demand roles outpace those offered by traditional IT services companies.
Compensation for GCCs specialising in cutting-edge technologies like Generative AI, AI/ML, data analytics, cybersecurity and cloud computing is typically 12-20 per cent higher than traditional IT services firms, Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD and CEO of CIEL HR, noted.
The preference for GCCs spans experience levels
Graduates are drawn by the chance to work on real AI, cloud and data challenges, and gain direct exposure to global operations. Mid-to-senior professionals are attracted by deeper product ownership, closer stakeholder access, and often higher compensation than comparable roles in IT services.
CIEL’s research indicates that the GCC workforce is largely composed of mid-level professionals with 6-15 years of experience, who account for about 51 per cent of employees. As a result, fresher hiring in GCCs remains a relatively small portion of the overall workforce mix.
Experts added that while IT services still attract professionals seeking multi-client exposure, sectoral breadth and onsite opportunities, many experienced professionals — especially those with 6-15 years of experience — are increasingly moving to GCCs to work closer to product innovation, global technology strategy and long-term product roadmaps while gaining exposure to emerging technologies and deeper domain expertise.
Published on March 15, 2026