GCC tech hiring slowed in the July to September quarter, even as the jobs that global capability centres want most kept growing. Overall GCC tech hiring demand at India’s global capability centres fell 3.5 percent from the previous quarter, according to the India GCC Tech Talent report for Q2 FY27 from staffing firm Quess Corp, released on 5 November. At the same time, demand for specialists in artificial intelligence, data and cybersecurity rose to 30.3 percent of all tech hiring demand, up from 25.8 percent in the previous quarter. Rediff carried the findings on 6 November, and Business Standard reported the same figures the same week.
The shift is clear in the numbers. Demand for AI, data and analytics professionals grew about 14 percent from the previous quarter, the fastest rise of any job category, while demand for cybersecurity and risk management roles rose about 12 percent. AI, data and analytics increased its share of GCC tech hiring demand from 16.7 percent to 19.7 percent, moving closer to software and digital engineering, the largest category at 22 percent. Cybersecurity and risk management moved up from 9.1 percent to 10.6 percent. Together, AI, data and cybersecurity accounted for nearly a third of all GCC tech hiring demand at the centres, a gain of 4.5 percentage points in a single quarter. The report covers the second quarter of financial year 2026-27, the three months from July to September 2026.
GCC tech hiring and the skills split
The centres are hiring fewer people overall but more specialists. Quess Corp said the moderation fits the usual hiring cycle of global enterprises, where recruitment peaks at the start of the calendar year and slows towards year-end. Kapil Joshi, chief executive for IT staffing at Quess Corp, said that as centres expand their responsibilities and explore new talent markets, companies will need to combine specialist hiring with reskilling and internal mobility. The report points to reskilling as the way to ease shortages, such as moving professionals from data science into model operations and from cybersecurity analysis into cloud security. Technology and product centres recorded the highest share of job postings asking for AI and generative AI skills, at about 32 percent, and requirements for AI and generative AI skills rose in all eight sectors the report covers.
GCC tech hiring by sector and city
The decline in GCC tech hiring was spread across the sectors that hire most. Manufacturing and industrial, the largest sector by hiring share, saw demand fall 9 percent. Banking, financial services and insurance recorded an 8 percent decline, and telecom and networks fell 24 percent. Yet in each of those sectors, the need for AI and generative AI skills rose: to 13 percent of requirements in manufacturing and industrial, 23 percent in banking, financial services and insurance, and 17 percent in telecom and networks. The pattern shows centres cutting general hiring while still adding the specialists who can deploy AI, manage data and secure enterprise systems. Among cities, Coimbatore stood out with around 30 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in GCC tech hiring, as centres looked beyond the established hubs for talent.
The supply gap behind the shift
The report estimates a wide gap between the specialists centres want and the people available to fill the roles. The supply gap in AI, data and analytics is estimated at 38 to 42 percent, and in cybersecurity and risk management at 30 to 35 percent. That gap is the reason the centres are turning to reskilling and internal mobility rather than hiring alone. The figures sit alongside a wider slowdown in headcount growth at the centres: India had 2,117 global capability centres after more than 400 opened in the two years to March 2026, with headcount above 2.36 million, but workers per centre have eased to about 1,115 from 1,130 in 2024. The Quess report, released on 5 November, puts the change in plain terms: GCC tech hiring demand fell 3.5 percent in the quarter, but the skills mix moved firmly towards artificial intelligence, data and cyber resilience.