Flat IT Hiring? Quess Corp is Betting Big on GCC’s Next-Gen Tech Gurus

After nearly two years of stagnation in India’s IT services hiring market, a major shift is on the horizon—driven not by the old outsourcing giants, but by new demand from Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and companies like Quess Corp, who are betting on specialized, high-margin tech talent. As legacy IT hiring lags, the focus is shifting towards next-generation digital skills, high-growth locations, and premium staffing services, with Quess Corp’s aggressive GCC push aiming to reshape the future of India’s tech workforce.

 

IT Hiring Stagnation: The Big Picture

For almost two years, India’s IT services sector has seen hiring grind nearly to a halt, with staffing firms reporting “almost nil” growth in new demand over the last six to seven quarters. The anticipated pickup in Q2 2025 has not materialized, leaving traditional IT services hiring flat and millions of entry-level tech aspirants facing a challenging job market.

 

While demand from domestic IT services and traditional global contracts has slowed, attrition rates have stabilized, foreshadowing a slow and cautious return to campus recruiting—but with far lower volume targets than in the pre-2022 boom years.

 

GCCs—The New Engine for Tech Talent Demand

The big exception to the hiring freeze: Global Capability Centres (GCCs). GCCs—captive technology hubs set up by multinational corporations in India—are transforming from cost-saving back-end centers to strategic, innovation-driven hubs. Sectors like healthcare, BFSI (banking and financial services), and manufacturing are fueling the charge.

 

In 2024 alone, over 1.8 lakh new tech jobs were created by GCCs, with the sector contributing to 17% year-on-year (YoY) tech workforce growth. The Indian GCC market is now projected to hit $105 billion by 2030.

 

New growth is concentrated in Tier-2 cities such as Kochi and Coimbatore, where infrastructure, policy incentives, and untapped talent pools are driving a rapid shift away from traditional IT hiring hotspots.

 

Quess Corp’s Bold Bet: High-Margin GCC Staffing

Against this backdrop, Quess Corp is aggressively pivoting to serve the needs of GCCs through professional, skill-focused staffing. The company launched “Origint” in June 2025—a GCC-as-a-Service business line that goes beyond headcount, offering a full suite of workspace, technology, compliance, and high-scarcity tech roles.

 

Quess is targeting a 60% share of high-margin revenue from this business by 2030, compared to less than 41% from general staffing. This strategic shift is already paying off, with professional staffing and GCC services delivering a 42% year-on-year increase in EBITDA.

 

CEO Guruprasad Srinivasan underlines that Quess’s deep domain expertise, proprietary sourcing, and readiness to deploy talent in 30-90 days gives it a significant competitive edge as global clients ramp up innovation mandates.

 

Where’s the Talent Demand? Key Skillsets and Gaps

India’s tech hiring landscape is no longer about generic IT roles; companies are fighting for specialists in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, cloud security, cybersecurity, and emerging fields like GenAI, FinOps, and cloud cost optimization.

 

The demand-supply gap for these roles is stark, frequently exceeding 30% for skills like AI, cloud architecture, DevSecOps, and blockchain. GCCs and top IT employers are paying a premium for top talent, especially in “deep tech” roles critical for digital transformation.

 

Quess Corp’s recent internal reports reveal that companies are prioritizing “depth over breadth”—hiring fewer, but far more skilled, candidates. The shift to Tier-2 locations expands the potential talent base, but the supply of these expertise-heavy roles remains tight, necessitating urgent reskilling efforts.

 

The Road Ahead: Hiring Outlook for 2025 and Beyond

Although overall IT services hiring may remain subdued for the near future, sectoral growth from GCCs and specialized domains is poised to rewrite the jobs narrative in India’s tech ecosystem.

 

India’s top IT and staffing firms are projecting a potential 15-20% increase in tech job opportunities across emerging markets and technologies in 2025, but this growth will be lopsided—strong for high-skill, niche roles, weak for generic positions.

 

Quess Corp is doubling down on this trend, expanding its high-margin, innovation-focused, and GCC-aligned staffing services, and signaling to job seekers and the industry that the future belongs to talent with advanced skills and sectoral flexibility.

 

Relevant Sources: Quess Corp, Moneycontrol, Business Standard, Devdiscourse, Economic Times, TalentSprint, Storyboard18, LinkedIn