A capability centre is only as strong as its first few hires. A good global capability centre hiring plan gets the sequence right and benchmarks pay against the right peers. It also gives Indian candidates a reason to join a brand they may never have heard of. Kintra runs that plan, from the site leader search to the ramp-up of core teams.
What is a global capability centre?
A global capability centre (GCC) is an offshore unit owned by a multinational that does work for its parent company, from technology and analytics to finance and operations. According to the Nasscom-Zinnov FY26 report (via The Tribune), India had 2,117 GCCs across 3,728 units, employing about 2.36 million professionals.
In US usage, the same thing is called a global capability center. The same report put GCC market revenue at USD 98.4 billion. Business Today, covering the study, said India added more than 500 new GCCs and over 1,000 new units in the last five years. Earlier, the Nasscom-Zinnov 2024 study (via ThePrint) found that about 23% of the global top 2,000 MNCs had a GCC in India in FY24.
All of those centres hire from the same pools. GCC hiring is now a competitive market in its own right.
What is the right order for global capability centre hiring?
Hire from the top down. Appoint the site leader first, then HR and finance leads, then function heads, then the core teams. With more than 500 new GCCs set up in five years, according to Business Today, senior candidates have options, and they want to know who they will report to before they move.
| Phase | Roles | Why it comes here | How Kintra helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Site leader | Centre head or managing director | Shapes the plan, the culture and the parent relationship | Retained executive search |
| 2. Enablers | HR lead, finance lead, facilities and compliance | Payroll, policies and offices must work before scale | Executive search or permanent recruitment |
| 3. Function heads | Engineering, data, product, finance operations | Each head builds and owns a team | Executive search for senior heads |
| 4. Core teams | Engineers, analysts, accountants, support staff | The bulk of headcount, hired in waves | Project-based recruitment process outsourcing |
Skipping a phase costs more than it saves. For example, picture a centre that hires 30 engineers before it has an engineering head. When the head arrives, they inherit a team they did not choose, built to a brief they did not write.
How is GCC hiring different from IT services hiring?
GCC roles usually mean owning a product or process for the parent company, while IT services roles mean delivering projects for external clients. That changes who you hire and what you pay. A Quess IT Staffing executive, quoted by Business Today (March 2026), estimated GCC attrition near 12.6%, against about 13% to 15% in IT services. Those are executive estimates.
Ownership and product thinking
Strong GCC candidates want to make decisions rather than follow specifications sent from headquarters. Interviews should test for that: how a candidate handled a trade-off, challenged a requirement or improved a process without being asked. Someone excellent at client delivery may still struggle in a centre that expects them to own outcomes.
Compensation benchmarks
Benchmark GCC pay against other GCCs and product companies, not IT services pay bands. Candidates in India compare total CTC, the fixed and variable split, and long-term incentives. Our market map shows where your offers sit before outreach begins, so you do not discover a pay gap through declined offers.
Which Indian city should your GCC be in?
Choose the city by the talent pool you need, not by headline cost. Nasscom-Zinnov counted 3,728 GCC units for FY26 (via The Tribune), spread across established metros and newer cities. Each city has a different mix of skills, competition and senior depth. We compare them for your roles in the market map.
| City | Often chosen for | Hiring consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | Deep product engineering, data and AI talent | The most competition for the same people |
| Hyderabad | Large technology and GCC presence, room to scale | Rapid GCC growth means strong competition for experienced hires |
| Pune | Engineering, including automotive and manufacturing technology | Check senior depth for niche product roles |
| Chennai | Engineering, manufacturing technology and finance operations | Check depth for niche product skills before committing |
| NCR | Finance, consulting, BFSI and business functions | Wide pool spread across Delhi, Gurugram and Noida |
| Tier-2 cities | Coimbatore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and others | Less competition, but thinner senior talent and often a hub-and-spoke model |
Many centres pair a metro hub with a smaller tier-2 site later. The talent mapping behind that decision is worth doing before you sign a lease.
How do you hire in India when nobody knows your brand?
Tell a clear story about the parent company, the mandate of the centre and the career paths it offers. The Glassdoor and Harris Poll survey (June 2023, via LHH) found that 83% of US job seekers are likely to research company reviews before applying. That figure is for the US, but the lesson travels: a new centre in India has few reviews for any candidate to find.
Candidates want answers to a handful of questions. What does the centre own, and what stays at headquarters? Is it a long-term investment or a cost exercise? Who leads it, and how do people grow? We write those answers into every outreach message and screening call. A visible site leader helps too, because candidates trust a named person who can explain the centre's plans in a final interview. For setup basics, see our guide on how to hire employees in India.
How does RPO help a GCC ramp up?
Core-team hiring comes in waves, which suits a project-based model. Embedded recruiters work in your ATS under your employer brand and report weekly. Once the teams are built, they scale down, so you are not paying for recruiting capacity you no longer need.
For example, picture a centre planning to hire 120 engineers, analysts and support staff over nine months. A project team of embedded recruiters runs the waves, while the site leader and function heads focus on final interviews and the work itself. When hiring settles, your own talent team takes over steady replacement and growth hiring, with the full pipeline data handed back.
Our recruitment process outsourcing page explains the models in detail.
When is a dedicated GCC hiring partner not the right fit?
If a build-operate-transfer provider is already recruiting and employing your team under contract, adding a separate hiring partner usually creates confusion. Two firms approaching the same candidates for the same centre makes your brand look disorganised. Pick one owner for hiring.
It is also too early if the parent company has not approved the centre, its budget or its first leader. Settle those decisions first.
A full GCC programme is also more than you need if you are hiring only a few people in India for now. Small teams are usually better served by offshore hiring through an Employer of Record or a contractor arrangement, with a centre planned once the case is proven.
When you are ready, share your hiring brief with your planned functions, headcount by phase, shortlisted cities and target dates. A recruiter reads it, then books a 30 to 45 minute brief call with you or your site sponsor. After the call you receive a phased plan for your global capability centre hiring and our written terms for each phase. You commit to nothing until you have read both.