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For three years, Sapna Singh (name changed) worked as a senior content strategist, gaining experience at both a large startup and a software company. She recently joined the Global Capability Center (GCC) of a major multinational company and the difference between the workplaces was immediately apparent.

Although the salary boost is notable, what truly impresses Sapna are the remarkable learning opportunities, supportive and flexible work environment, and vibrant company culture.

Like Sapna, many freshers and young employees, in search of fatter pay, learning opportunities, and the promise of job security, are finding GCCs attractive. However, that wasn’t always the case.

For the longest time, GCCs were synonymous with grunt work and low salaries. These centres—considered as back-office support for large multinational firms—weren’t particularly high on the minds of engineering students. 

However, things have changed. GCCs in India—numbering over 1,600 and employing 1.66 million people, according to a TeamLease Digital report—are now places for research and development. More importantly, they are hiring at a time when IT services companies have slowed recruitment. 

Jobs, jobs, jobs

According to Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO of TeamLease Edtech, GCCs have hired about 65,000-70,000 freshers in the last six months alone. 

GCCs—think companies like Cisco and JP Morgan—are also sweetening the deal with fatter pay cheques and better career opportunities. 

Starting salaries at these centres for internship programmes can range from Rs 5-5.5 lakh a year, with the promise that once the programme is completed successfully, the salary will increase to Rs 8-11 lakh, according to Krishna Vij, Business Head, TeamLease Digital. 

In comparison, the minimum salaries offered by IT services companies to freshers hover around Rs 3-4 lakh on average. Firms including Infosys, TCS and Wipro also have programmes that offer higher compensation to freshers.

GCCs offer 25% to 30% higher salaries on average than IT services companies, making them an attractive option for freshers, Vij tells YourStory. She adds that even at the same salary, candidates prefer to work at GCCs purely for the upskilling opportunities available there.

By 2025, India is projected to have 1,900 GCCs, with over 2 million employees, according to the TeamLease Digital report. These centres are expected to increase their fresher hiring by 48% in FY25 compared to last year, shares Vij.

“As GCCs have become more integral to business operations they have started investing in product development, and technology roles like system engineers, data engineers, software engineers, and analysts,” she adds.

GCCs typically hire around 80,000 to 100,000 people annually from campuses, representing roughly 6% of the total talent, points out Anshuman Das, CEO of Careernet and HirePro. While this is relatively lower compared to the combined IT services sector, with hiring ranging from 400,000 to 500,000, GCCs are expected to hire more with the projected growth in their numbers.

“All through the last 18 to 24 months, tech hiring was somewhat muted, primarily because IT service companies weren’t hiring as much and large tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon went through a few phases of load shedding. The lone bright spot was GCCs,” ​​Sekhar Garisa, CEO of talent platform foundit (formerly Monster), says, adding that GCCs remained net positive in terms of hiring.

The top five IT firms in India brought down the employee count by over 70,000 in fiscal 2024. More than 130,000 IT professionals have reportedly been laid off by major tech companies and startups till August 2024.

In the pecking order, IT services companies were at the bottom from a candidate’s perspective, followed by GCCs, and then startups, Garisa says. However, in the last two years, due to uncertainty, layoffs, and other factors, the stability offered by GCCs has made them more attractive compared to startups, which have faced significant churn and instability, he explains.

“I’m not surprised if a student graduating from a good college now considers working for JP Morgan over an Accenture; it’s a legit comparison to make,” Garisa remarks, adding that GCCs have a lot of natural advantages.

Some larger GCCs have developed structured programmes that allow them to absorb more freshers, train them with seniors, and nurture talent from within. 

GCCs also offer internship opportunities for 6-12 months, often through their own walk-ins, to hire candidates with specific skills and upskill them according to project needs. Their model involves four days of project work and one day dedicated to training, focusing on both the project and the latest technologies to upskill the candidates.

These walk-in opportunities from GCCs offer freshers more off-campus options. The off-campus proportion has increased to 30%-35% this year from about 20% last year. According to Das, in challenging years, the proportion of off-campus opportunities tends to be higher compared to previous years.

Attracting diverse talent

Freshers aren’t the only ones finding work opportunities at GCCs as these centres have opened up multiple leadership roles, with the number expected to reach 30,000 by FY27, up from 5,000 currently, shares Vij, adding that there is a continuous outflow of leadership talent from IT services to GCCs.

Over the last two financial years, the net lateral talent movement from IT sectors to GCCs has grown from 14% to 23%, according to TeamLease’s Vij.

“There is a strong inclination towards GCCs. Candidates are willing to accept the same salary for the chance to work at a GCC, valuing the opportunity to be part of these organisations,” she adds.

Post-COVID-19, the narrative around work-life balance, people practices, and prioritising personal well-being over organisational demands highlights that people now value benefits and people practise more than ever, Garisa says, adding that in this context, GCCs clearly score higher than IT services.

Meanwhile, GCCs are also looking at tech talent from Tier II and III locations as they view this as an opportunity for cost arbitrage and are keen to invest in this talent.

“GCCs are receiving government subsidies, benefiting from lower infrastructure costs, and are able to invest in talent development. Additionally, attrition levels are significantly lower compared to Tier I cities,” Vij remarks.

Brighter future?

The IT services sector is optimistic about fresher hiring in FY25, with leading companies like TCS planning to recruit nearly 40,000 fresh graduates, Infosys targeting 15,000-20,000, and other firms like HCLTech and Wipro also ramping up their fresher hiring compared to the previous year, signalling a strong recovery from the FY24 slowdown.

“Overall, fresher hiring is expected to rise by an estimated 20-27%, highlighting the industry’s robust confidence in future growth and the continuous demand for new talent. This however is a positive outlook, considering the YoY fresher hiring trends have been in the negative for the last two financial years,” notes Vij.

foundit’s Garisa believes that the new Budget announcement about internships could provide a little bit of an impetus to fresher hiring. Larger IT services companies might take advantage of the government-supported internship model to reduce cost pressures and hire more freshers.

Although overall hiring sentiment remains cautious, GCCs are strategically focusing on building a robust talent pipeline by prioritising fresher recruitment, Vij says, adding that fresher hiring by GCCs is expected to increase by 25-30% in the second half of the year.

“While the IT sector might still see conservative growth numbers, the tech talent has a new address – the GCCs,” remarks Vij.

(Cover image and infographics designed by Sharath Ravishankar)