India’s overall white-collar hiring stayed subdued in June 2026, with the foundit Insights Tracker (fit) recording a 5 per cent month-on-month and 9 per cent year-on-year decline. Against that slowdown, the country’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem continued to expand, with the nature of that hiring shifting toward AI. Nearly two in three new GCC roles created in 2026 (64 per cent) now require AI, data science or intelligent automation skills, even as Technology and Software and BFSI together account for 56 per cent of all GCC hiring.India has already recorded 227,991 GCC hires till June 2026, up 11 per cent over the same period last year, with nearly 2,120 GCCs now operating across the country. GCC hiring is projected to reach 510,452 jobs by the end of the year, up 12 per cent from 2025, as multinational companies continue to scale their India operations into strategic innovation and capability hubs.“Companies are no longer setting up Global Capability Centres simply to reduce costs. They are building them to develop the AI, engineering and product capabilities that run their global businesses. India offers the depth of talent to do this at scale, and the growing pull of Tier 2 cities shows how far that capability now extends beyond the traditional metros,” said Tarun Sinha, CEO, foundit.India’s GCC hiring has grown 3.4-fold since 2021, reaching 227,991 jobs in the first half of 2026 alone — a 27.4 per cent CAGR over five years. The number of GCCs has risen from around 1,600 to roughly 2,120 over the same period, reflecting both new centre set-ups and the expansion of existing ones. Full-year hiring is projected to cross 510,452 jobs in 2026, the first time annual recruitment crosses the 5 lakh mark.The share of GCC roles requiring AI capabilities has risen from 11 per cent in 2021 — roughly one in nine — to a projected 64 per cent in 2026. AI, data science and analytics is now the fastest-growing function within GCCs, expanding 38 per cent year on year.Technology and Software remains the largest hiring sector at 35 per cent of GCC hiring, followed by BFSI at 21 per cent — together accounting for 56 per cent of the hiring overall as of June 2026. Healthcare and Life Sciences accounts for 11 per cent, Manufacturing and Industrial for 9 per cent, Retail and Consumer for 7 per cent, Automotive and Mobility for 6 per cent, Telecom and Media for 5 per cent, Logistics and Supply Chain for 4 per cent, and Energy, Chemicals and Others for 2 per cent.Hiring is concentrated in four technology and digital functions — IT and Software Development, AI and Data Science, Engineering and Product R&D, and Cloud and Cybersecurity — which together account for more than three-quarters of all GCC roles.Professionals with 4 to 10 years of experience account for 56 per cent of GCC hiring (4–6 years at 34 per cent and 7–10 years at 22 per cent), reflecting demand for specialists able to lead engineering, AI, cloud and digital transformation initiatives. Early-career talent (0–3 years) makes up 30 per cent of hiring and is growing fastest at 18 per cent year on year, supported by expansion into Tier 2 cities, while the 11–15 year and 15+ year cohorts account for 10 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.Sectors such as Energy and Logistics sit at the other end — hiring below the weight of their footprint. Their centres are established, but headcount growth has yet to catch up, pointing to capacity still to be tapped as these functions scale.Published on July 1, 2026