Global capability centres (GCCs) are likely to hand out higher salary hikes compared with Indian IT service providers for the fiscal year starting April, as these outposts of multinationals seek to ringfence talent critical to maintain their fast growth.For the next fiscal year (FY26), IT services companies are pegged to increase salaries by 5-8% on an average, with exceptional performers getting 12-14%, according to estimates provided by mass recruitment firm Teamlease to ET. For GCCs, the average will be 10%, with top performers getting an increase of 15-20%, the data showed.

GCCs are already seen as better paymasters than local IT firms. They are also hiring at a faster pace.

In the ongoing financial year, they are paying 15-20% higher salaries to freshers hired for roles in artificial intelligence/machine learning and cloud, said Teamlease Digital chief executive Neeti Sharma.

While the junior and mid-level roles see a wide range of salary difference, in the senior roles with over eight years of experience, the salary increase in GCCs largely remains in the range of 27-29%, similar to IT services.

The salary difference between GCCs and IT is the least for cloud engineers — across all levels — signalling the high demand for this role, Sharma said.

For roles such as robotic process automation developer, internet of things engineer and full-stack developer, salaries are higher in GCCs by about 12-15%, she said.In UI/UX design, where GCCs pay significantly more — a median salary of Rs 27.3 lakh per annum, compared with Rs 11.7 lakh in the IT sector, Sharma said.

This, she said, can be attributed to the product development and user research capabilities of GCCs which are newer functions. Sectors like ecommerce, and banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI) are demanding more specialized UI/UX skills.

GCCs are also expected to be more active in the market for talent compared with IT services.

Staffing firms are forecasting a 50-75% increase in hiring by GCCs in FY26 compared with FY25; their forecast for IT services is 30%.

They are projected to hire 114,000-133,000 freshers in the fiscal year ending March 2025.

In the April-June quarter of FY25, GCCs were the top recruiters of technology talent, beating IT services companies for the first time, ET had reported.

“Hiring sentiments in IT services and GCCs in India for calendar year (CY) 2025 would be driven by the ongoing demand for digital transformation and emerging technologies (artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud, and cybersecurity). Hiring rates for these skill sets have increased by roughly 30% to 40%,” said Karthikeyan Kesavan, director of permanent recruitment at Adecco India.

In the past two years, India has emerged as the premier destination for GCCs. These centres are carrying out high-value operations for their parent organisations, in turn generating more technology jobs in India. This, experts say, is reducing the need for talent relocation, leading to increased hiring within the country.

“We anticipate a significant increase in the development of high-value jobs in GCC, particularly in technology and R&D (research and development). Otherwise, India’s IT services and GCCs are expected to increase nominally by double digits across all technologies,” Kesavan added. “In Q2 and Q3 (April to June and July to September) of CY 2025, there will be a notable increase,” Kesavan added.

Global capability centres (GCCs) are likely to hand out higher salary hikes compared with Indian IT service providers for the fiscal year starting April, as these outposts of multinationals seek to ringfence talent critical to maintain their fast growth.For the next fiscal year (FY26), IT services companies are pegged to increase salaries by 5-8% on an average, with exceptional performers getting 12-14%, according to estimates provided by mass recruitment firm Teamlease to ET. For GCCs, the average will be 10%, with top performers getting an increase of 15-20%, the data showed.

GCCs are already seen as better paymasters than local IT firms. They are also hiring at a faster pace.

In the ongoing financial year, they are paying 15-20% higher salaries to freshers hired for roles in artificial intelligence/machine learning and cloud, said Teamlease Digital chief executive Neeti Sharma.

While the junior and mid-level roles see a wide range of salary difference, in the senior roles with over eight years of experience, the salary increase in GCCs largely remains in the range of 27-29%, similar to IT services.

The salary difference between GCCs and IT is the least for cloud engineers — across all levels — signalling the high demand for this role, Sharma said.

For roles such as robotic process automation developer, internet of things engineer and full-stack developer, salaries are higher in GCCs by about 12-15%, she said.In UI/UX design, where GCCs pay significantly more — a median salary of Rs 27.3 lakh per annum, compared with Rs 11.7 lakh in the IT sector, Sharma said.

This, she said, can be attributed to the product development and user research capabilities of GCCs which are newer functions. Sectors like ecommerce, and banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI) are demanding more specialized UI/UX skills.

GCCs are also expected to be more active in the market for talent compared with IT services.

Staffing firms are forecasting a 50-75% increase in hiring by GCCs in FY26 compared with FY25; their forecast for IT services is 30%.

They are projected to hire 114,000-133,000 freshers in the fiscal year ending March 2025.

In the April-June quarter of FY25, GCCs were the top recruiters of technology talent, beating IT services companies for the first time, ET had reported.

“Hiring sentiments in IT services and GCCs in India for calendar year (CY) 2025 would be driven by the ongoing demand for digital transformation and emerging technologies (artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud, and cybersecurity). Hiring rates for these skill sets have increased by roughly 30% to 40%,” said Karthikeyan Kesavan, director of permanent recruitment at Adecco India.

In the past two years, India has emerged as the premier destination for GCCs. These centres are carrying out high-value operations for their parent organisations, in turn generating more technology jobs in India. This, experts say, is reducing the need for talent relocation, leading to increased hiring within the country.

“We anticipate a significant increase in the development of high-value jobs in GCC, particularly in technology and R&D (research and development). Otherwise, India’s IT services and GCCs are expected to increase nominally by double digits across all technologies,” Kesavan added. “In Q2 and Q3 (April to June and July to September) of CY 2025, there will be a notable increase,” Kesavan added.