Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India are undergoing a dynamic shift, as evidenced by a recent survey that reveals key hiring trends in the first half of 2024.

According to the survey conducted by specialist staffing firm Xpheno, the captive service units of large multinational enterprises in India hired approximately 152,000 people during this period. While this marks a 14% increase from the previous six months, it is still 9% lower than the same period a year earlier.

The data highlights a significant aspect of the hiring process within GCCs—more than 75% of these hirings were aimed at replacing employees who had left, resulting in a net addition of 34,000 employees.

The gross hirings, which included attrition-linked replacement of about 118,000 employees, reflect the challenges that GCCs face in retaining talent while also striving for growth.

GCCs operating in sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, oil & gas, and food & beverage services led the way in net additions, both in the first half of 2024 and over the past 12 months.

These sectors are demonstrating resilience and growth potential despite ongoing global economic uncertainties, which have impacted hiring decisions and kept numbers below the highs of 2022.

However, experts and companies are optimistic about the future, projecting a potential uptick in the second half of 2024.

Kedar Pathak, Xpheno’s GCC specialist, anticipates a 10-15% net headcount growth for the current calendar year compared to the previous year. This positive outlook is driven by India’s strong tech talent pool and expertise in cutting-edge technologies, which continue to attract global enterprises to invest in and expand their GCC operations in the country.

Several key factors are expected to contribute to this growth.

States such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are actively promoting themselves as prime destinations for GCCs.

Karnataka, for instance, has ambitious plans under its GCC policy, aiming to host more than 15% of Forbes 2000 enterprises by 2030.

The strategic push, combined with the efforts of companies like Amgen, Adidas, Comcast, UPS, HCA Healthcare, and Bridgewest—either establishing new GCCs or expanding their existing talent base in India—emphasises the country’s growing importance as a global hub for technology and innovation.

“Most global organizations are looking at Indian GCCs as a strategic partner to their headquarters,” said Pathak. “Indian GCCs are impacting their HQs with efficiency, innovation, and digital transformation capability. There’s a significant technology depth being built here.”

This evolution is perhaps best exemplified by the German healthcare services company Siemens Healthineers, which has set a target of hiring 700-900 new roles at its Development Centre in India in the next fiscal year starting in October.

The move is indicative of a broader trend where GCCs, once viewed as mere back-office support for Fortune 500 companies, have transformed into major tech hubs. These centers are now deeply integrated with their parent organizations, serving as strategic assets that provide extensive access to digital talent.

The First Step

The journey of GCCs in India began nearly 40 years ago when Texas Instruments established its R&D operations in Bengaluru.

Today, Indian GCCs have become a compelling success story, driving the creation of more tech jobs and solidifying India’s position as a hub for advanced technological development.

The future looks promising for GCCs in India, as they continue to adapt to global challenges, leverage the country’s tech expertise, and play an increasingly critical role in the global operations of multinational enterprises.

Opening Doors, To New Jobs

Consider these figures: India is currently home to approximately 1,600 Global Capability Centers (GCCs), with this number expected to increase to 1,900 by next year.

A Nasscom-KPMG report highlights that the market size for GCCs has surged to $60 billion, a significant rise from $19.6 billion in 2014-15, and more than doubling to $46 billion in 2022-23, reflecting an 11.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, GCCs have created over 600,000 new jobs, bringing the total to over 1.6 million.

The future looks even more promising for this sector. The latest Economic Survey projects that GCCs will generate $121 billion in revenue by 2030, which is about 3.5% of India’s current GDP, with $102 billion anticipated from exports.

Take JPMorgan Chase, for example. Its headcount in India grew from 34,000 in 2018 to over 55,000.

Deepak Mangla, CEO of Corporate Centres in India and the Philippines at JPMorgan Chase, recently stated that their India operations represent a microcosm of all business lines and functions, not just technology.

“We consider ourselves a technology-driven bank with a strong strategy for distributing talent globally. We have more than 60,000 technologists at the firm, and approximately one-third of them are in India. Our India corporate centres specifically employ 55,000 people, with about 20,000 in technology.”

Gunjan Samtani, Global COO of Engineering at Goldman Sachs and Country Head of Goldman Sachs Services India, noted that over 120 global functions across business and engineering are carried out from its Indian GCCs in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which employ 8,500 people.

“Over the last two decades, the functions performed in India have evolved from end-of-day support for trading platforms and exchange connectivity to algo trading platform support, data analytics, and client reporting. Today, the India GCC is a center of excellence with thought leadership in several equities engineering functions,” he said.

Innovation Centers

GCCs in India have become models for innovation hubs.

Texas Instruments (TI) India, for example, is one of the pioneers in enabling end-to-end chip design in the country.

“TI engineers play a significant role in the entire chip design process, from concept to design, product engineering, testing and validation, and system software… Some of the best teams in the industry for product development are here in TI India,” said Santhosh Kumar, TI’s President and Managing Director.

Goldman Sachs‘ India center has developed Atlas, a low-latency trading platform that hosts a comprehensive suite of trading strategies to help clients achieve their trading objectives, perform historical analyses, build quantitative models with real-time market information, and execute trades.

“This platform helped trim microseconds in trade execution for our low-latency trading clients. The latency reduction from this platform has helped us engage both existing and new hedge funds and quant clients,” Samtani added.

Recently, GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp shared that the 1,200 engineers at the John F. Welch Technology Centre in Bengaluru are engaged in pioneering work on the future of aviation.

Their projects include developments on the Leap engine for narrow-body aircraft, the GEnx for wide-body aircraft, and the next-generation Rise platform for the narrow-body market.

Additionally, GE announced an investment of over Rs 240 crore to expand and upgrade its manufacturing facility in Pune. This factory already produces components for GE’s global factories, which are used in assembling engines like the G90, GEnx, GE9X—the world’s most powerful commercial jet engine—and the Leap engines by CFM, a joint venture between GE and Safran.

Climbing the Value Chain

Sangeeta Gupta, Senior VP and Chief Strategy Officer at Nasscom, states that India will remain central to the growth of GCCs, significantly impacting economic, human capital, innovation, social, and environmental dimensions.

“Talent will be a key driver of this growth, with both new and established centers expanding their capacities. There’s a clear shift towards incorporating corporate functions, analytics, and AI, with tasks increasingly focusing on areas like product management, decision support, and embedded systems capabilities,” Gupta said.

She further noted, “GCCs are becoming increasingly vital to their parent enterprises, concentrating on moving up the value chain, creating leadership opportunities, and amplifying their overall impact.”

Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Partner at tech growth advisory firm Catalincs, added, “With several hundred GCCs reaching critical mass, I expect employment numbers to accelerate from here. It wouldn’t be surprising if the GCC headcount in India surpasses 4 million in the next five years.

Today’s GCCs are also driving the transfer of technology through R&D and expertise in emerging areas such as product development, AI, cyber engineering, edge computing, and synthetic biology.

The fact that institutions like ISB, IIMs, and IITs now offer advanced programs in product management is indicative of this trend.”

As the lines between technology and traditional industries blur, GCCs are becoming talent hotspots in areas like full-stack development, AI, IoT, embedded systems, and automation, reshaping global markets.

Pari Natarajan, CEO of global management consultancy Zinnov, remarked,

“Established GCCs are cultivating advanced skills beyond pure technology, including product management and architecture, where they are building deep domain expertise. This shift enables them to deliver higher-value work and gain a more comprehensive understanding of business contexts.”

Zinnov’s research indicates that the number of global roles in GCCs in India is expected to grow from just 115 in 2015 to 30,000 by 2030.

The growth of GCC’s In India is undoubtedly good news for India as they offer excellent job prospects in a scenario where hiring freeze has been initiated by many companies; yet there is one group “Gen Z” that has brought in a “new twist” to the Jobs game!

The Dream Job Dilemma; How Gen Z is Redefining Career Aspirations

The notion of the “dream job” is losing its shine for Generation Z, as engineering graduates face a stark reality: campus placements and engineering job opportunities are at an all-time low.

This has forced many students to shift their focus from landing their ideal job to simply finding any job.

Just three years ago, big tech companies were laying off thousands of employees due to the pandemic, market uncertainty, and internal restructuring.

These widespread layoffs have been a significant turnoff for Gen Z, even as many students are now preparing for internship season. With only a year left before graduation, a growing number of students have already distanced themselves from the aspiration of securing a dream job—a goal that once defined top students.

Take the case of Shubhanshu, a 2018 graduate from a premier institute. After a few years in the workforce, he reached the same conclusion as many of his peers: companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon were once seen as the ultimate career destinations, with the belief that securing a job at one of these giants would set you up for life.

However, today’s graduates are increasingly willing to work with smaller teams, recognizing that securing a job—any job—is more important in the current climate.

They also understand that big companies are slowing down on hiring, and even if they are fortunate enough to land a job at one of these firms, rapid career advancement is no longer a guarantee.

This shift in perspective marks a stark contrast with the mindset of their parents’ generation, which valued long-term career stability. While government jobs offered security in the 1980s and ’90s, and working for large conglomerates provided status in the 2000s, these factors no longer hold the same importance for today’s young professionals.

Thus, the allure of the dream job is fading for Gen Z, driven by unceremonious layoffs in the tech industry, increased awareness of workplace challenges through social media, and a growing tendency among younger workers to view work as a means to an end rather than an end in itself.

This shift signals a new era in career aspirations, where the traditional dream job is being redefined by a generation more focused on adaptability, security, and personal fulfillment.

Jolted by Layoffs

Since the pandemic, the tech industry has experienced widespread layoffs on a global scale.

So far this year, over 130,000 employees across 398 tech companies have lost their jobs. In 2023, 1,193 firms laid off more than 264,000 employees, and in 2022, 165,000 people were affected by job cuts in 1,064 companies, according to data from layoffs.fyi.

For job-seeking Gen Z, the realization has set in that “big tech is as unstable as working in a startup,” says Harish Uthayakumar, an electrical engineer from BITS Pilani’s Goa campus, who graduated in 2022.

Uthayakumar, now running a social learning platform, recalls how during his time on campus, the idea of a dream job shifted with “every VC funding cycle.”

“In my first year, in 2018, everyone aspired to work at Google, Microsoft, or Amazon,” he says, noting how students would spend hours on LeetCode, an online platform for tech interview preparation.

By his second year, artificial intelligence and machine learning had taken center stage, and by the third and fourth years, the focus had shifted to crypto startups.

“I remember a student getting a Rs 95 lakh offer from a blockchain platform,” he recalls. Every six months, students’ dream jobs seemed to change based on who received the highest offer. By 2022, his final year, venture capital roles had become the most sought-after positions.

Uthayakumar has observed a shift in mindset among more recent batches of students.

“They are more open-minded and willing to explore. Instead of just following the crowd, they question whether preparing for a technical interview makes sense for them.”

Premier business schools are witnessing a similar trend. “While freshers tend to be more ambitious and somewhat influenced by peer pressure, final-year students are more pragmatic about what constitutes a dream job,” says Aban Padung, placement coordinator at IIM-Ahmedabad.

He notes that while every student has a different vision of a dream job, final-year students now consider various factors, including rapid career growth, client exposure, work-life balance, competitive pay, and sectoral preferences.

Above all, “they seek leadership-oriented roles where they can take ownership and have strategic importance,” Padung explains.

So, what led to the erosion of the traditional dream job?

Beyond the layoffs, it’s the broader uncertainty of our times, suggests Taru Kapoor, former head of Tinder in India and Southeast Asia, who holds degrees from IIT-Delhi and Harvard Business School.

“In the past, job stability was paramount. Dream jobs were meant to last a lifetime, offering respect and financial security.” Careers in government, banking, medicine, and large conglomerates were highly valued. “The social contract was clear—secure a job, work 40 hours a week for 40 years, and build your life around the certainty of steady income and job respect.”

The Decline of Job Stability and the Rise of New Aspirations

Over the last two decades, job stability has significantly diminished, observes Taru Kapoor. The younger generation understands this reality and is now focusing on opportunities that can generate quick financial gains.

“They know there will be periods of struggle, so they aim to leverage fleeting successes while they last. It’s a de-risking strategy,” she explains.

Evolving Career Goals

Job aspirations have moved beyond the traditional dream jobs, says Ishaan Preet Singh, an IIT-Delhi graduate now working in the venture capital industry.

“Becoming a creator, influencer, unicorn founder, or gaining 100,000 subscribers on Substack—these are the new goals that have suddenly become attainable,” he notes.

Furthermore, roles at companies like Google and Meta no longer carry the same exclusivity, as these tech giants have expanded and now employ thousands of people.

According to the IQOO Quest Report 2024, only 19% of Gen Z respondents in India and 9% globally consider growing within a reputed organization a major career aspiration.

Instead, roughly 24% of Gen Z in India and 22% worldwide aspire to build careers in “new-age fields” such as content creation, gaming, and artificial intelligence.

A Shift in Work Attitudes

Headhunters have observed a growing emotional detachment from work among young professionals.

“Gen Z, in particular, believes that companies are primarily self-serving and not genuinely focused on advancing their employees’ careers; workers are seen as incidental to a company’s journey,” says K Sudarshan, Managing Director–India and Regional Chair–Asia at EMA Partners, a global executive search firm.

This contrasts with older generations, including millennials and Gen X, who were much more emotionally invested in their jobs, especially early in their careers.

According to the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2024, approximately 51% of working professionals leave their current employers to improve their work-life balance.

Sudarshan notes that the growing number of career options available to the younger workforce has diluted the allure of the dream job. “In the past, there were only a handful of top companies to choose from, making those opportunities seem like a matter of life and death.

Today, many of those once-coveted firms, like the FMCG giants, struggle to attract top talent,” he says.

However, in a recent conversation, Rohit Jawa, CEO & MD of HUL, disagreed with this perspective. “When you speak to people who want to work in marketing or the consumer services space, we continue to be the first preference,” he stated.

Consulting remains largely unaffected by the shifting attitudes of Gen Z, with jobs at firms like McKinsey and BCG still holding strong appeal among young professionals, according to headhunters.

Abheek Singhi, Chair of Practices at BCG India, notes that top recruiters are increasingly recognizing the evolving job aspirations of younger professionals.

“Many companies are now integrating social impact, diversity, and flexibility into their work profiles to attract and retain skilled talent,” he says. However, he also points out that the success of these changes varies across different sectors.

Tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon, which have a significant presence in India, acknowledge that a shift is taking place.

“Gen Z values meaningful work, a supportive environment, alignment with their values, and contributing to broader societal goals, rather than just the brand name of a company,” says Suman Yadav, Director of University Talent Acquisition at Amazon India.

To adapt to the evolving concept of a ‘dream job’ among younger generations, Microsoft has changed its recruiting approach on campuses.

“We’ve shifted to making our recruitment process more experience-based, giving students a chance to see what life is like as a Microsoft employee,” says Rajiv Kumar, Managing Director of Microsoft India Development Centre.

Ultimately, the traditional idea of a “dream job” has been replaced by the concept of an “ideal job,” according to Sumeet Singh, CMO of Info Edge, which owns platforms like Naukri.com.

In its latest ad campaign, Naukri.com aims to dispel misconceptions about Gen Z’s work attitude by portraying them as ambitious individuals who have a clear understanding of what they want—and don’t want—in their careers.

“Managers often claim that Gen Z lacks seriousness about work, but the reality is that Gen Z values more than just their careers, something previous generations weren’t conditioned to do. If one of us prioritized other aspects of life, we were considered outliers,” Singh explains.