Staffing Firms Cut Growth Projections as Global Capability Centres Trim Recruitment Amid Automation
New Delhi: As automation is expanding and routine tech jobs are shrinking, Global capability centres (GCCs) have cut back on routine recruitment. This development has forced recruitment companies that depend heavily on tech hirings to scale back growth projections.
Notably, automation is beginning to reshape hiring strategies across India’s technology sector. It has deepened the hiring slump that staffing giants which relied on IT placements were already facing. This shift is a significant worry for staffing and job-search platforms such as TeamLease Services, Quess Corp, and Info Edge, which earn as much as 44% of their revenue from IT-related hiring by GCCs and technology services firms, Live Mint reported.
Speaking to Live Mint TeamLease Digital chief executive Neeti Sharma underlined that the hiring volumes of many large GCCs that expanded rapidly in recent years are not in line with their previous years' hiring. “Most large scale GCCs that had expanded majorly over the past few years are now focussing on transforming their processes in areas of people management, technology, and shared services (IT and customer support functions). Hence, currently their hiring volumes are not in line with their previous years’ hiring," Sharma was quoted as saying.
According to another Live Mint report, GCCs, known for hiring specialised talent at higher pay than IT outsourcing firms, are cutting down on intake, and this reduction is already becoming a burden on staffing companies that get between 4–10% of their revenue from these centres.
Due to weak global demand, in the last two years staffing firms have seen muted recruitment by IT services players. Now, GCC hiring is also tapering off, prompting firms to scale back growth projections. However, areas such as AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud, and data remain in demand. As a result of this, some companies like TeamLease for instance reported revenue of Rs 3,032 crore for July–September 2025, up 4.9% from the previous quarter, Live Mint reported.
Staffing firms are expecting hiring trends to become more value-led, with higher compensation for niche roles while tech hiring is likely to stay subdued. Companies also anticipate greater recruitment from pharma, retail, and manufacturing, along with increased AI-focused investments by GCCs.
As per Nasscom, India has more than 1,760 GCCs, with 875 located in Bengaluru and 355 in Hyderabad. These centres together generate at least $64.6 billion in export revenue, nearly a quarter of the IT sector’s $283 billion. Nasscom projects that India will have 2,200 GCCs by March 2030, with the market reaching $105 billion by then.
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