India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) boom is entering a new phase. More than 2,100 GCCs operate in the country, employing about 2.36 million people and generating $98.4 billion in revenue in FY2026. The bigger shift is in the work they do: multinational companies are moving AI, engineering, cybersecurity, product development, R&D and other higher-value functions into their India centres. JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, McDonald’s and Nvidia are scaling up their tech operations here. At the same time, states compete to attract the next wave of GCC investment, setting targets for hundreds of thousands of jobs by 2031.
GCC footprints show up clearly in the office market too: CBRE says GCCs accounted for around 43% of office leasing in India in the first half of 2026, absorbing about 19.6 million sq ft.
But the next wave of growth is driving a different kind of talent demand.
What’s Changing?
The expansion is spreading beyond India’s established GCC hubs.
Seven states with dedicated GCC policies have collectively set targets equivalent to around 1,380 additional centres and 1.18 million jobs, with policy deadlines ranging from 2029 to 2031, according to CBRE. These are state ambitions rather than forecasts of realised investment or employment, but they reflect the intensifying competition to attract GCC growth.
The work landing in these centres is also becoming more specialised.
Quess Corp’s Q4 FY26 report found that AI, data and platform skills accounted for about 60% of GCC hires during the quarter. It also identified strong demand—and significant talent shortages—in AI and data, platform engineering and cloud infrastructure, alongside growth in cybersecurity hiring.
Why Does It Matter?
Scale and specialisation could turn GCCs into a major engine of high-skill, higher-value service-sector jobs for India. But these are not the same tech and support roles that built India’s earlier outsourcing boom.
As GCCs take on product ownership, engineering and advanced tech functions, they need workers who can apply specialised skills in complex business settings, not just execute processes.
In professional and shared services, Quess found particularly strong demand for mid-level consulting professionals with three to seven years’ experience. Entry-level hiring remained selective in sectors including BFSI and retail and e-commerce.
What Happens Next?
Quess says persistent shortages in AI, platform engineering and cloud infrastructure will require sustained investment in upskilling, internal capability-building and stronger talent pipelines.
The bigger opportunity for India lies in starting that progression earlier. Today’s graduates may lack experience for the most specialised GCC roles, but they can build it through their first jobs, training and structured work-based learning.
What Should India Do?
For states, attracting GCCs is no longer just about investment; it is about jobs. Employment gains depend on whether workers can grow alongside the centres.
Apprenticeships, structured graduate programmes and clearer entry-level career paths could bridge that gap, giving young workers a route into the sector and eventually into the specialised roles driving this next phase of growth.
India’s GCC story isn’t just about how many centres global firms set up. It’s about whether the country can build the workforce to grow with them.
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Source note:
This article is based on CBRE’s 2026 analysis of India’s GCC policy landscape, including state-level targets for new centres, employment and GCC office leasing. Additional context on hiring trends, skill demand and talent shortages across AI, data, platform engineering, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity was drawn from Quess Corp’s Q4 FY2026 GCC Trends report.
Editorial Disclosure:
AI-assisted tools were used to help summarise and organise information from the source reports and to support language and copy-editing.