For years, India’s startup ecosystem has captured global attention for innovation, driven by the caffeine-fuelled founders, ambitious engineers, and the promise of building the next unicorn from scratch. But a quiet shift is underway. Now the GCCs are aggressively scaling their presence in India, offering top-tier salaries, global exposure, and job stability.
As these centres evolve from back-office support functions to strategic hubs driving AI, cloud, and product innovation, they are attracting a significant share of India’s skilled tech talent, including professionals who once gravitated toward startups. In FY24, approximately 16% of new GCC hires came from startups and product companies, while hiring from traditional IT services firms declined from 32% to 18%, according to industry data.
This shift is part of a larger transformation in India’s tech talent landscape. “Talent mobility in India’s tech sector continues to evolve, with GCCs emerging as true innovation hubs,” says Anuj Khurana, Co-founder & CEO, Anaptyss. “In recent years, GCCs have played a pivotal role in driving global innovation from India, prompting a strategic shift as they increasingly tap into talent from allied industries, including tech, startups and digital-first enterprises.”
Part of this appeal lies in how GCCs have redefined themselves. “Gone are the days when only Fortune 500 companies were coming to India, now we are seeing a huge advent of mid-market GCCs, including private equity–backed companies,” says Vybhava Srinivasan, Managing Director at Availity India, adding that cost is no longer the main driver. “Today, people come to India for one main reason, talent at scale.”
The rise of new-age roles within GCCs is also fuelling interest. As Khurana points out, candidates are increasingly drawn to opportunities that “offer long-term direction, consistency, and the freedom to innovate at scale.” In sectors like BFSI, GCC integration is creating demand for positions where professionals can build deep-domain expertise and make a measurable impact. Anaptyss, for example, plans to double its headcount by 2027, onboarding over 600 professionals, with a focus on hiring from allied industries for their adaptability and potential.
This availability of high-quality talent has prompted GCCs to open their purse strings, often offering 20 to 30% higher compensation than domestic IT firms and matching or exceeding what many startups can offer. For startup employees juggling uncertainty, long hours, and limited resources, the stability and global exposure of a GCC is understandably tempting.
But Srinivasan notes that it’s not just about paychecks. “Especially PE-backed and mid-market GCCs, they tend to be more nimble, quick to turn things around, and eager to innovate. In some cases, GCCs here are starting to offer the same excitement and opportunities that startups do, but with added job security.”
The draw is not one-sided. Startup professionals and founders often bring with them a unique mindset that GCCs are eager to tap into. “One big advantage of hiring people from startups is that they are already used to operating at a fast pace,” says Sunil Vuppala, VP, AI Labs, Aurigo. “They come in with a strong sense of ownership, even if they are not at an executive level. If they can identify the right next step, GCCs can be a very good home for them.”
Still, Vuppala points out the importance of role fitment. “Some startup professionals may not be used to the process-oriented environments of large organisations. If you place them in a highly layered GCC, they may struggle. But in mid-sized GCCs like ours, they tend to adapt well and thrive.”
Interestingly, both Srinivasan and Khurana also highlight the potential for collaboration between GCCs and startups, rather than viewing it as a zero-sum game. “Startups think outside the box. They don’t carry the baggage of large, established structures,” says Vybhava. “That’s why many companies are already partnering with startups to co-create solutions. If the concept works, you scale it. If not, you still learn something.”
This spirit of mutual benefit may well define the next phase of India’s digital workforce, one where talent moves fluidly between startups and GCCs, each offering distinct value propositions. For startup professionals looking to pivot, GCCs offer structure, scale, and opportunity. For GCCs looking to evolve, startup talent brings creativity, urgency, and a product mindset.
Rather than one ecosystem cannibalising the other, what’s emerging is a dynamic interplay, where career decisions are less about binaries and more about timing, fitment, and long-term learning curves.
To be fair, there will always be people who crave the thrill of a startup environment. But many others may find that GCCs now offer a similarly fast-paced, innovation-driven space, without the existential uncertainty.
