GCCs, non-techs firms in India on a tech hiring spree

India has emerged as an important destination for global capability centres (GCCs) for tech hiring, according to a new report published on Wednesday. The demand for specific technology skills is also consistently rising across non-tech industries, the report published by IT staffing firm Quess IT Staffing, said.

GCCs are client owned and operated delivery centres providing critical technology for multinational companies. According to the Quess IT Staffing report, 20% of the lateral movement from IT firms has been absorbed into GCCs and non-tech firms that are going digital.  

The Quess IT Staffing report further said, the most sought-after skills suites in the IT sector include ERP (20.84%), Java full stack (27.62%), data analytics (16.37%), cloud (16.34%), and infrastructure management (25.94%). Notably, around 82% of the aggregate demand emerged from these five skill sets. Apart from this, demand for professionals adept with niche tech skills related to artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data, 5G, cyber security, DevOps, robotics process automation (RPA), and UI/UX also held a considerable share of total demand. 
 
As per the Quess report, industries such as energy and utilities (11%), healthcare and life science (11%), automotive and engineering (10%), BFSI (7%), and telecom networks (6%) held a high demand share for tech talent. The report said hiring on these skillsets will continue to rise as tech and non-tech companies digitise to promote their business growth and innovation. 

Vijay Sivaram, CEO, of Quess IT Staffing, commented, “Given the global banking crisis and an unprecedented wave of employee layoffs, hiring has been muted in Q4FY23.” While hiring requirements will come in as most firms are still in a wait-and-watch mode, he believes that GCCs and Indian firms across non-tech industries will continue to add to the numbers. 

Another report released in December 2022 by IT staffing firm NLB Services, said that GCCs will add close to 3.64 lakh jobs in 2023 and the sector will scale up from the current $35.9 to $60-85 billion by 2026. “Over 57% of the GCCs are looking to ramp up workforce between 25-100% within the next 12 months with IT software/consulting and engineering/manufacturing leading subsectors driving the plans,” the report said.  

That said, Prasadh M.S., head of workforce research and analytics at specialist staffing firm Xpheno, cautioned that even though hiring in GCCs holds steam, for now, they are not totally resilient to the global economic slowdown. “While hiring by GCCs remain strong as compared to IT services firms and startups, it is subject to the influence of global slowdown on parent MNCs having captive centres in the country in the coming months,” he said.