Seven States Are Chasing 1.2 Million GCC Jobs. Talent Supply Hasn’t Caught Up

When a location offers faster approval, it may appear attractive to GCCs. But it discloses little information on how quickly a capable team can be built from that particular location. Before finalizing the decision, it’s important to look beyond the incentive package for employees. What matters more is checking whether the local pool of talent can execute the roles planned for the GCC. Companies are looking beyond established hubs and assessing where they can build the right capabilities at scale.

This is where a closer look at hiring data can change the decision. For example, an IT company evaluating a Tier-II location for its first GCC found the tax package competitive enough. However, when the team benchmarked local hiring data for specialized data engineering roles, the numbers pointed to a different approach. The client chose a hybrid model, with core product functions based in an established hub and support functions built out in the lower-cost city. The specialized roles were filled considerably faster than they would have been under the original all-Tier-II plan.

For first-time entrants, the risk is not necessarily in the entity structure or the details of the subsidy. It is assuming that an attractive incentive package also means there is a mature local talent market for the specific skills the GCC needs.