Hiring talent with the required skill set has emerged as the biggest challenge for global capability centres, even though the majority of them are looking to expand their workforce this year, a report said on Tuesday.More than half of global capability centres plan to expand their workforce in 2026-27, while 22 per cent expect stable headcount and 26 per cent anticipate cuts, according to the second edition of Taggd's annual GCC report released in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).Taggd is a digital recruitment and talent fulfilment company. The report is based on inputs from over 100 CHROs and talent acquisition leaders, along with closed-door roundtables across major GCC hubs.It said that despite stronger hiring sentiment in FY27 than the previous year, quality mismatch has emerged as the top hiring challenge for GCCs, surpassing compensation pressure and talent availability, signalling a shift from hiring for volume to finding the right fit.This signals a shift in India's GCC hiring challenge, from a shortage of candidates to finding talent that meets the skill standards demanded by skill-first hiring, the report added.According to the findings, 52 per cent of GCCs are planning to increase headcount in FY27, against 48 per cent a year ago.While 22 per cent expect the hiring to hold at current levels, 26 per cent anticipate a reduction, a caveat that did not feature as prominently in last year's outlook, it added.The report further said that India's GCCs are entering FY27 with early-career talent continuing to anchor hiring, with freshers at 16 per cent and professionals with 1-5 years of experience at 30 per cent, which overall accounts for 46 per cent of expected hiring.It indicated that GCCs are sustaining early-career hiring, even as the mix within it shifts slightly toward those with some prior exposure."GCCs are driving India's next phase of global leadership, but the rules of engagement are shifting. Our research with CII confirms that FY27 growth will be defined by precision rather than sheer volume. As AI integrates across every function, the GCCs that lead tomorrow will be those that transition from broad-based intake to targeted, skill-first capability building," Taggd co-founder and CEO Devashish Sharma said.The report also found that GCCs rely heavily on external hiring, with 78 per cent of talent sourced externally versus 22 per cent developed in-house, leaving them vulnerable to rising wages and intense competition for specialised skills.Among externally sourced GCC talent, IT services continued to be the single largest contributor at 41 per cent, followed by talent moving between GCCs at 32 per cent, and hires from startups and product companies at 27 per cent, it added. PTI SM HVA