GCC hiring in India rose 5-7% in July-September quarter: Report

India's Global Capability Centres witnessed a sequential hiring growth of 5-7 per cent during the July-September quarter, with most demand stemming from AI and data, platform engineering, cloud and FinOps and cybersecurity roles, says a report.

According to the Quess Corp's India's GCC Tech Talent Landscape: Q2 FY26 report, sectors like BFSI, Manufacturing, Automotive, Energy, Technology and Hardware have become the main pillars of GCC growth.

"India's GCC evolution is entering its most strategic phase yet, one defined by precision, not proliferation. The second quarter reflected a measured 5-7 per cent quarter-on-quarter hiring growth, highlighting a shift from scale to capability-led maturity, with AI, FinOps, and platform reliability emerging as core priorities," Quess Corp CEO - IT Staffing Kapil Joshi said.

Hiring budgets are now focused around revenue-critical and resilience-focused functions, creating steady demand for platform engineering, data management, and FinOps roles that support these programmes, said the report.

"Roles in AI and Data Science saw an 8 per cent uplift, and FinOps-driven cloud hiring rose 6 per cent, underscoring enterprise focus on performance and cost optimization.

"While tier I metros like Bengaluru and Hyderabad continue to anchor advanced AI and cloud roles, tier II hubs such as Coimbatore, Kochi, and Ahmedabad, each recording 8-9 per cent QoQ growth, are scaling as cost-efficient delivery bases," Joshi said.

On skill gap the report said the most critical shortages were observed in AI and data (41 per cent), platform engineering (39 per cent), cloud and infrastructure (25 per cent), and cybersecurity (18 per cent), said the report.

These gaps are prolonging hiring cycles, especially for mid-senior roles outside tier I cities.

According to the report, southern metros dominated in GCC hiring during the July-September period led by Bengaluru led with a 26 per cent share, followed by Hyderabad (22 per cent), Pune (15 per cent), and Chennai (12 per cent).

Bengaluru saw strong traction in advanced AI and FinOps roles, while Hyderabad gained momentum in multi-cloud integration and data reliability. Pune and Chennai also recorded steady growth in automotive software, platform migration, and intelligent quality assurance, it stated.

India currently hosts around 1,850 active GCCs and employs over 2 million professionals and the ecosystem is on track to reach 2.5 million by 2030, added the report.