Demand isn’t disappearing, it’s evolving: India’s GCC Tech Talent Landscape 2024 Report
● Bengaluru dominates strategic hiring in Defense, BFSI, and Construction; Hyderabad surges in Healthcare and AI-led roles
Quess IT Staffing, India’s largest technology staffing firm, today launched the India’s GCC Tech Talent Landscape 2024 Report, offering a strategic view into the evolving dynamics of Global Capability Centres (GCCs).Analysing over 300,000 aggregated data-points in the last year, this report explores India’s rise from a delivery destination to a nucleus of innovation, powered by AI, cloud-native infrastructure, and cybersecurity, highlighting pivotal shifts in hiring, skill demand, and compensation trends across GCC’s in India. The report underscores India’s accelerating momentum as the world’s top talent hub, driven by advanced digital transformation, AI adoption, and cloud evolution.
India: The Nucleus of Global Tech Talent
India is now home to over 1,800+ GCCs, with 120+ new centers launched in 2024, reflecting a 17% YoY workforce growth and 1.8 lakh new jobs added.
Tech Skill Surge: GenAI, Platform Engineering, and Cybersecurity
The report reveals an exponential surge in demand for next-gen skills, with Generative AI witnessing 32% annual growth, especially across BFSI and retail sectors. Other high-growth sectors include:
● Platform Engineering & SRE – 26%
● UI/UX Design – 25%
● Cloud & Infrastructure Engineering – 14%
“India’s GCCs are no longer just delivery hubs—they are innovation powerhouses. The pivot toward AI-first, cloud-native, and cyber-resilient ecosystems marks a strategic inflection point for the industry. We foresee talent investments focusing on capability depth, building capacity, digital-first mindsets, and Tier-2 city expansion.
As organizations shift to capability-driven talent models, there is emphasis on a growing demand-supply gap in emerging tech roles, alongside rising compensation premiums for niche skills. Roles in GenAI, FinOps, and Zero Trust are redefining hiring priorities, while Tier-2 cities emerge as critical growth engines. Demand isn’t disappearing.It’s evolving! Our insights equip business leaders with the clarity needed to stay ahead of disruption and stresses a need for building capability for a future-ready, resilient workforce,.”said Kapil Joshi, CEO, Quess IT Staffing.
Hiring Hotspots and Industry Trends
● Bengaluru leads strategic hiring with 61% in Defence& Aerospace and 35% in BFSI.
● Hyderabad is the preferred hub for Healthcare & Pharma GCCs (41%) and emerging AI talent.
● Pune shows strength in Manufacturing (24%), while NCR leads in compliance, telecom, and real estate domains.
Key sectors driving demand include BFSI, Retail & Ecommerce, Telecom, and Manufacturing, all of which are rapidly deploying AI, Cloud, and IoT at scale.
Tier-2 Cities Enter the Spotlight
With increasing focus on cost agility and talent diversification, GCCs are expanding into Tier-2 cities like Kochi, Coimbatore, Indore, and Jaipur, targeting operations-led and mid-tier engineering roles. These locations are gaining traction for domain-specific talent, particularly in GRC, Cloud Support, and MedTech.
Talent Gaps & Compensation Premiums
Despite a booming ecosystem, the report flags notable supply gaps in roles like:
● Cloud FinOps Specialists – 45% gap
● AI Observability Engineers – 35%
● Blockchain Developers – 30%
Compensation is following suit, with AI & Data Science engineers now commanding 25–40% salary premiums. Cloud Security, Zero Trust, and FinOps roles also see up to 50% higher pay due to scarcity and global competition.
Future Outlook
The India GCC market is poised to lead global enterprise transformation. By 2030, India’s GCC market is projected to grow to $99–105 billion, with a workforce exceeding 2.4 million professionals.
