The New Talent Migration Trend Reshaping the GCC Sector in India

Created On: August 11, 2026
India, Newsletter

Modified On: August 11, 2026

Share

Summary:

India is becoming a preferred destination for global companies building high-value teams, with GCCs now supporting AI, cybersecurity, analytics, and product engineering. With more than 1,700 GCCs and over 1.9 million professionals, the sector is also expanding into Tier II and Tier III cities beyond traditional hubs. Visa uncertainty, remote-first work models, and access to specialized talent are encouraging companies to place work closer to available talent. The main challenge is finding skilled professionals in areas such as AI, data science, and semiconductor design quickly enough to support GCC expansion. Companies need to plan location selection, compliance, and hiring infrastructure together, particularly when entering emerging cities. IMC supports businesses with GCC setup, workforce planning, location assessment, and compliance to help new centres become operational and ready to hire.

For decades, India’s brightest technical talent used to follow a fairly predictable path abroad, chasing opportunities that simply didn’t exist at home in the same volume. However, now that pattern is gradually changing. Instead of talent migrating toward international firms, global companies are increasingly establishing high-value teams in India. A global capability center in Bengaluru or Pune today is looking beyond back-office priorities, as they are running AI development, cybersecurity operations, and product engineering.

It’s tough to ignore the scale behind this transformation. India now hosts more than 1,700 GCCs, contributing close to 68 billion dollars in direct value to the economy. The country’s talent pool for these roles has crossed 1.9 million professionals, with a growing share, over 82,000 people, now based in Tier II and Tier III cities rather than the traditional hubs. That geographic diversification demonstrates that companies are no longer restricted to a handful of metro cities when they set up operations. This trend is opening opportunities in cities that were largely overlooked even a few years ago.

Why this shift is happening now

The shift in the GCC sector in India is shaping up as a few forces are converging at once.
The uncertainty of visas abroad has made it harder and costlier for companies to move talent to the locations of their offices. So, many organizations are flipping that logic and shifting the work location to jurisdictions where they would easily find talent.

Remote-first operating models, something companies got comfortable with out of necessity a few years back, have also made distributed leadership normal rather than experimental. A company can now run its finance operations from Hyderabad, its analytics from Pune, and its product engineering from Bengaluru. All these regional centres report to the same global structure seamlessly.

India isn’t the only country pursuing this opportunity. Poland, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia are all building out specialized talent pipelines and offering incentives to attract the same kind of GCC investment. India’s has a definite lead, but it isn’t guaranteed to hold on its own.

The actual pressure point for businesses

For businesses, the actual pressure point is finding the right people fast enough, which requires more effort than finding just the talent. Every year, around 1.5 million engineering students graduate from India. However, only a fraction of these professionals is skilled in AI, data science, or semiconductor design that modern GCCs actually need.

As new data centres create demand for close to 1.2 million additional tech roles by 2027, this gap is expected to widen. Some companies simply assume that hiring will keep pace with their expansion plans. Most often, these companies face delays at the workforce-building stage, not the entity-setup stage.

This is exactly where the difference between opening a global capability center and actually operating one at scale becomes clear. For organizations, site selection, compliance, and hiring infrastructure need to be planned together from the outset, not in sequence. This becomes particularly important as a larger number of companies look beyond traditional metro hubs and explore emerging cities with real but less mature talent ecosystems.

Where IMC fits in

At IMC, we help global companies work through this complexity right from the outset. With professional assistance from our team, they can confidently progress on entity setup, workforce planning, and location strategy, so that a new center is actually ready to hire and scale from the first day. Our GCC setup services cover everything from compliance and location assessment to building the operational foundation a growing center depends on.

Considering where your next capability center should be based? Speak with our GCC advisory team to determine the right location for your next capability center.

Author Bio:

Poornima J is an experienced business writer specializing in Global Capability Centers (GCCs), international expansion, and cross-border business operations. She works closely with advisory professionals to convert evolving market trends and business developments into practical, decision-oriented content. Her writing focuses on topics including GCC setup, talent strategy, regulatory considerations, and operating models across global markets. Through structured and business-focused content, she supports organizations evaluating growth opportunities and long-term expansion plans.

Expand your business faster with our Global Capability Center

Global Entity Management is more than compliance

Let’s build the full structure right

Why Tech Companies Are Turning to EOR for Global Hiring

CCFS-2026 Closes 31 August 2026: ROC Filing Deadline

CCFS-2026 Closes on 31 August 2026: What Companies With Pending ROC Filings Need to Decide Now

Don’t rely on assumptions

Conduct Due Diligence across HR, financial, and operational areas.

Your Vision, Our Mission.
Let's Discuss.

Entity Management

International Expansion

Company Formation

Global Mobility Services

Tax & Statutory Accounting

Family Business

Trust and Foundation Formation

Lifestyle & Luxury Asset Management

Succession Planning Services

Private Company Services

Treasury Services

Accounting Services & Regulatory Reporting

CFO

Global Capability Center(GCC)

Accounting