India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem is back on a growth path, but the nature of hiring is undergoing a noticeable shift. According to Quess Corp’s latest report, “India’s GCC Tech Talent Landscape Q4 FY26,” hiring grew by 12–14% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 FY26, a sharp improvement from the muted 4–6% growth seen in the previous quarter.
The rebound reflects renewed enterprise confidence and a broader expansion across sectors after a period of selective optimisation.
At the same time, the composition of hiring is changing. Replacement hiring now accounts for 40% of all recruitment, indicating that organisations are spending a significant portion of their efforts on backfilling roles rather than creating new ones. This trend is closely tied to evolving workforce behavior, particularly among Gen Z professionals, whose average tenure has dropped to under 24 months.
Shorter employment cycles are compelling GCCs to strike a balance between scaling their teams and maintaining organisational continuity.
Demand continues to be driven by next-generation capabilities such as AI, platform engineering, and infrastructure modernisation. However, the availability of skilled talent remains a major constraint.
The BFSI sector is facing a particularly acute challenge, with a 42% gap in AI and data roles. To address this shortage, companies are offering salary premiums ranging from 1.5x to 2.5x in an effort to attract and retain specialized talent in a highly competitive market.
Commenting on the findings, Kapil Joshi, CEO of IT Staffing stated, “Q4 FY26 reflects a clear recovery in India’s GCC ecosystem, with momentum gaining across diverse sectors. However, we are witnessing a structural shift: a higher volume of recruitment is being diverted to replacement roles as tenure cycles shorten. This is prompting organisations to rethink how they build depth in their talent pools. As GCCs evolve into strategic global hubs, the focus must shift toward balancing rapid scale with long-term capability building to ensure sustained growth.”
Despite the growth momentum, talent shortages continue to act as a bottleneck across key digital domains. The report points to a 38–42% shortage in AI and data roles, a 32–36% gap in platform engineering, and a 28–32% deficit in cloud infrastructure skills.
The issue is less about the number of available roles and more about the scarcity of niche expertise, particularly in emerging areas like AI/ML Ops, which is slowing down large-scale transformation efforts.
Geographically, Tier-1 cities continue to dominate the GCC landscape, accounting for nearly 88–90% of total hiring, with Bengaluru and Hyderabad leading the way. While Tier-2 cities are gradually increasing their share to 10–12%, complex and high-value mandates remain concentrated in metro hubs.
This dynamic reinforces the hub-and-spoke model, where innovation and strategic functions are anchored in Tier-1 cities, while Tier-2 locations support execution and scale.
Another notable shift is the growing reliance on flexible staffing models. Contractual roles made up 25% of total hiring in the quarter, reflecting a strategic move by organisations to remain agile.
By leveraging contract talent, GCCs are able to quickly access niche capabilities and respond to project-based demands, particularly in fast-evolving areas like AI and platform-led transformation.