A growing number of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are putting entry-level hiring on hold, opting instead to fill roles by redeploying existing employees, according to a joint Nasscom–Zinnov report unveiled at the Nasscom GCC Summit 2026.
After serving as a hiring cushion during the turbulence in India’s IT sector in 2025, GCCs are now expected to slow recruitment momentum. Nasscom projects a more measured pace of hiring ahead, with companies increasingly focusing on internal talent mobility and AI-driven productivity gains, rather than expanding headcount in a linear fashion.
Seeking Specifics
“The talent strategy is now shifting, again, from volume hiring to securing specialised expertise. At the same time, the workplace itself is evolving into a strategic infrastructure designed to enable collaboration, innovation, and talent retention, rather than simply housing employees,” said Ketaki Karnik, Head Research and Insights, Nasscom, stating that this indicates GCC’s move from the periphery to the nerve centre of an increasingly AI-first organisation.
She attributed the slowed hiring growth to higher productivity and value delivery by AI without proportional headcount expansion. This means a reassessment of open roles, no automatic backfill, and redeploying internal talent rather than hiring externally. AI hiring across GCCs continue to intensify with demand for AI centric skills increasing to 1.5 percentage points in the past six months alone. At the same time, leadership models are evolving, with 64 per cent of site leaders now holding dual mandates that combine global functional ownership with site leadership owning mission critical responsibilities, including cybersecurity and AI governance.
Next Phase
“GCCs are increasingly taking ownership of global products, platforms, and business outcomes, positioning India as a strategic nerve centre for enterprises worldwide. The next phase of growth will be defined by how effectively these centres can drive enterprise-wide transformation and deliver measurable impact,” said Rajesh Nambiar, President, Nasscom.
Nearly 75 per cent of India’s GCCs have the potential to evolve into Portfolio or Transformation Hubs over the next five years, as per the report, with action across four key areas: shifting portfolios toward high-complexity work, building an AI-friendly workforce, measuring performance through business outcomes, co-creating with partners instead of simply managing them.
India currently hosts 2,117 GCCs operating across 3,728 units and employing around 2.36 million professionals as of FY26. The number of GCCs in India has grown 32 per cent since FY2021. The ecosystem’s total market revenue stands at $98.4 billion.
Published on May 6, 2026