The $1M GCC Salary Myth: Report Reveals Reality of CXO Pay

The widely held belief that global capability centre (GCC) leaders in India routinely earn million-dollar compensation packages is largely exaggerated, according to a new report by UnearthIQ.

The report, titled Hype vs Reality of GCC CXO Compensation, finds that while a handful of leaders at very large centres may command total compensation approaching or exceeding $1 million, most CXO salaries across India’s GCC ecosystem are significantly lower and closely tied to the scale and strategic role of the centre.

“Million-dollar GCC pay is limited to a few leaders in large global centres; compensation in mid and nano GCCs is aligned to scale and operational impact,” the report revealed.

Global Capability Centres are offshore or near-shore units established by multinational corporations to run strategic functions such as engineering, product development, IT services, finance, and operations. India hosts more than 1,700 GCCs, making it the largest global hub for such centres.

The ecosystem employs nearly two million professionals and has grown rapidly as multinational companies expand technology and operational capabilities in the country. According to industry estimates cited in the report, the sector currently generates about $65 billion in revenue and is projected to reach $110 billion by 2030.

The UnearthIQ study categorises GCCs into three segments based on scale—large GCCs, mid-market GCCs, and nano GCCs—and finds that leadership compensation varies widely across these categories.

For leaders of large GCCs, which typically employ 5,000 or more professionals and run global engineering or product mandates, total compensation can range between $700,000 and $1 million or more in some cases.

In mid-market GCCs, which generally employ between 1,000 and 5,000 people, leadership compensation typically ranges from $250,000 to $500,000, depending on the scope of operations and global responsibilities.

At the smaller end of the spectrum, nano GCCs, with fewer than 1,000 employees, usually offer CXO compensation in the range of $120,000 to $300,000, reflecting their relatively limited scale and early-stage operations.

The report also noted that headline figures around million-dollar pay packages often include long-term incentives such as equity or stock grants, in addition to fixed salary and performance-linked bonuses. In several high-profile cases, the inclusion of equity components has contributed to the perception that million-dollar packages are commonplace.

Multinational companies, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM, operate large GCCs in India, running engineering, product development and global business operations from the country.

As the GCC ecosystem continues to expand and evolve from cost-focused back-office operations to innovation-driven strategic centres, the report suggested that leadership compensation will remain closely aligned with the scale, maturity and global mandate of each centre, rather than reflecting a uniform high-pay benchmark.