GCCs pick up the slack as IT firms slow hiring

Increased hiring, higher pay to offset some of the gloom from IT cutbacks

- Devina Sengupta & Varun Sood

Prospects for the Class of 2024 which had darkened when information technology (IT) services firms cut hiring are brightening again, as global capability centres (GCCs) step into the breach with higher salary offers.

GCCs in India, which were once captive units of foreign companies, have fanned out across technology schools ranging from the top Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to smaller colleges in tier-2 and 3 cities.

According to multiple placement officers and industry executives, these centres plan to hire 50-100% more freshers than last year, paying up to 30% more than homegrown IT services firms. Companies such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd are expected to pay ₹3.5-4 lakh for engineering graduates with basic skill sets, while Wipro Ltd and Infosys Ltd will not be heading to campuses this year.

Higher joining pay and no delays in starting with a company after accepting an offer have encouraged more students to accept offers from GCCs, placement executives said. “Last year (2023 batch), out of 947 companies that visited, more than 350 were GCCs. This year (2024 batch), out of 440 companies that visited so far, more than 200 companies were GCCs," said.

Samuel Rajkumar V., director of the Vellore Institute of Technology's (VIT) career development centre. Campus hiring is still underway, and many more GCCs are expected to turn up for talent.

IT services firms and GCCS together hired 7,000 out of the 8,000 that graduated from the four campuses of VIT last year, Rajkumar said. This year, consultancies and banks, including Deloitte, KPMG, EY, JPMorgan and Bank of America have emerged as the biggest recruiters, he added.