A recent NASSCOM report has revealed that GCCs and startups are leading the way in fresher hiring. The report, titled “The Industry Ready Campus: Preparing Students for Tomorrow’s Careers,” has analysed the emerging trends in the campus hiring ecosystem, especially in the growing presence of GCCs and startups as recruiters.
GCCs Are Hiring More Freshers
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India are significantly ramping up their hiring of fresh graduates. They are reshaping talent acquisition strategies, especially for roles requiring expertise in data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and other innovative, tech-driven functions.
Let’s look at how this trend is shaping up:
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Aggressive Campus Hiring
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Substantial Surge: GCC fresher hiring is expected to rise by 48% in FY25 over the previous year, scaling annual intake from around 85,000–100,000 to 133,000 freshers.
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Campus and Off-Campus Drives: While campus recruitment is dominant, off-campus hires are expected to reach nearly 40% of entry-level roles by end-2025, reflecting broader sourcing to match rising talent needs.
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Focus on Emerging Skills: Priority is given to students who demonstrate proficiency in AI, ML, data science, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and analytics.
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Premium Compensation: GCCs offer freshers salaries of ₹8–12 lakh per annum (LPA), with AI and cloud specialists even earning up to ₹15LPA, sometimes at a premium of 30% over traditional IT firms.
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Strategic University Engagement
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Curriculum Investments: GCCs are collaborating with universities to shape curricula aligned with industry needs, ensuring a pipeline of job-ready graduates.
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Diversity of Talent Pools: Engineering institutes, business schools, and degree colleges are all targets, with a rising trend of recruitment in non-metro cities, too.
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Onboarding and Upskilling
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Structured Training: Freshers undergo comprehensive onboarding, blending technical and soft skills, plus domain-specific and business communication training.
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Quick Integration: Many fresh recruits are groomed to take on product development, research, and leadership tracks, preparing for fast-evolving project demands.
Why Freshers are a Good Bet for GCCs
It’s important to understand why GCCs, or for that matter, even startups, see freshers as a good bet for their organisation.
Freshers come with the advantage of cost optimization, commanding lower initial salaries. So, while GCCs are willing to pay freshers handsomely, they still come 1/10th to 1/20th the cost of those in developed markets, freeing resources for training and tech.
New graduates also come with skill freshness, typically in the latest tech, frameworks, and digital talent crucial for innovation. Having said that, they are also highly coachable and agile, adapting quickly, learning fast, and bringing in a flexible mindset, which is ideal for navigating cutting-edge and agile tech environments.
Building the talent pipeline and retaining potential talent are key to the hiring process. With freshers, early hiring enables GCCs to mold employees, ensuring a steady pool of domain experts and future leaders. Investing in skill development and career paths for freshers also encourages loyalty and reduces attrition at senior levels, which works well for GCCs.
Other benefits, like the ability to imbue company domain and cultural values early, closing the gender gap, and fueling innovation, especially in data science, AI, and R&D, become significantly smoother with hiring fresh graduates.
What Freshers Can Expect
The NASSCOM report says the average fresher salaries at GCCs exceed ₹5 lakh, well above the ₹3–5 lakh range typically offered by IT services firms. In addition, a surge is expected in these centres, with fresher hiring going up to 50 per cent by 2030.
GCCs are also now increasingly tapping into talent from Tier II colleges. This transformation in the hiring landscape is a reflection of a broader approach that is gradually coming over talent acquisition.
Freshers must also note that both GCCs and startups are increasingly leveraging internships as a strategic tool to assess potential full-time hires. This helps them assess a gamut of skills from core programming fundamentals and grasp of emerging technologies to essential soft skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and communication.
Young graduates gain the opportunity to work in real-world projects, demonstrate their skills, and experience a platform to experiment and innovate more freely.
The Tier II Cities Angle
The trend of GCCs hiring freshers from Tier II cities has its roots in these centres increasingly choosing smaller, upcoming cities to set up their operations.
Over the last year, several studies have reported the growing potential of India’s Tier II cities in attracting Global Capability Centers. For instance, Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi have recently been listed as two of the top Tier II cities in India that GCCs are showing interest in.
Read here in detail: Tier-2 Cities: The New Frontier for GCC Expansion in India
Tier II cities like Thiruvananthapuram have the unique advantage of cost favourability, excellent connectivity, skilled resources, high quality of life, and more, which puts them on the global map of GCC preferability.
In the specific case of Thiruvananthapuram, the city’s tech and business environment, thanks to the presence of India’s first and largest IT park, Technopark, is growing exponentially. The booming IT ecosystem and infrastructure, the state government’s supportive policies, industry and academia collaborations, and an influx of skilled, fresh talent from the city’s premier educational institutes are the many reasons why Thiruvananthapuram has gradually become a sought-after destination for GCCs.
Conclusion
The ascent of GCCs and startups as leading recruiters marks a defining moment in India’s employment landscape – one where fresh graduates are no longer just filling seats but are driving innovation, agility, and future growth. As organizations aggressively hire from premier and Tier II institutes alike, young professionals are gaining access to vibrant careers rooted in emerging technologies and transformative business practices.
For cities like Thiruvananthapuram, this translates into global visibility, economic upliftment, and an ecosystem where talent and opportunity thrive hand in hand. For freshers, the message is clear – you are at the heart of this transformation, and the road ahead is filled with promise and potential.
If you’d like to connect with Technopark to discuss establishing your GCC here, write to marketing@technopark.in.