India accounts for 45 percent of GCCs in the world. According to Deloitte, India’s global capability centre (GCC) sector comprises more than 1,300 global organisations, employing more than 1.3 million people and generating USD 33.8 billion in annual revenue in FY20.
The impact of GCCs:
- More than 300 startups, engaged as vendors, generated 15 million+ in revenue.
- Indian startups got USD 8 million funding through GCC accelerator programmes
- More than 5 lakh students learned AI and IoT skills through academic collaborations
- 10-15 percent of founders/CEOs of tech startups have roots in GCC
After a minor slump in 2020 (post pandemic), more and more GCCs are being set up in 2022. According to the latest report, close to 500 MNCs are expected to launch captive centres in India by FY25.
Let’s look at the recent announcements around GCCs in India:
American giant operating in the industry, worker safety, healthcare, and consumer goods, 3M recently added a new technology centre in Bengaluru to accelerate its digital transformation at scale, which combines its material and digital sciences through advanced capabilities to solve customer challenges. The new tech hub is expected to provide strategic technical talent to enable growth, operational excellence, speed of delivery, and sustainability. The company looks to hire 1000+ people in the next two years.
Traveltech giant Airbnb launched a new technology hub in Bengaluru to assist its global customers. The new technology hub offers fresh opportunities for talented local engineers and tech specialists.
Last year, the crypto exchange platform Coinbase announced it would set up a new tech hub for Coinbase in India. The company said it would set up a physical office in Hyderabad to offer IT services, including engineering, software development and customer support operations in India. The company is bent on finding world-class talent to develop new ways for its customers to interact with the cryptoeconomy.
Last year, Goldman Sachs, which operates as a global in-house centre (GIC) out of India, said it would hire around 2,500 people by 2023 to expand its operations in Hyderabad.
In 2004, Goldman Sachs set up its first office in Bengaluru. Over the years, the centre has become one of the largest technology hubs globally, with about 7,000+ professionals. The investment bank launched the Hyderabad centre to drive engineering and business innovation in India. The centre offers consumer banking services, business analytics, and platform engineering.
Sun Life Asia Service Centre (ASC) India
The GCC of Canadian financial services company, Sun Life, located in Gurugram, has plans to step up hiring in India in 2022. Established in 2006, Sun Life’s ASC has grown significantly over the years. The hub has close to 3,000 employees (52 percent of enterprise services worldwide and about 6 percent of Sun Life’s global workforce). In addition, ASC has more than 1,100 engineers, 200+ AWS professionals and a group of certified actuaries to deliver business solutions.
US food retailer Giant Eagle recently set up its GCC in Bengaluru. The GCC team in India supports over 400+ stores across distinct categories like grocery, retail and pharmacies.
In the coming months, the Giant Eagle team looks to expand its internal capabilities in the areas of data and analytics, engineering, merchandising, and QA.
Swedish retailer H&M had set up a global technology centre in Bengaluru. The brand plans to sell home decor, dinnerware, bed linen and furnishings in India from March and plans to hire about 1,000 employees in India to drive expansion.
In 2015, H&M opened its first store in India under the foreign direct investment route for single-brand retailers. Currently, the brand operates 48 stores. In 2018, the company debuted online commerce through its app and local website. A year later, it collaborated with Flipkart-owned online fashion retailer Myntra to sell its fashion wear online.
A year ago, Swedish furniture retailer Ikea opened a new global office at the Karle Special Economic Zone in Bengaluru. The company has been sourcing from India for the last 35 years. It has 60+ suppliers and 45,000 direct employees and 4 lakh workers in the extended supply chain in India, producing for Ikea stores globally. The Bengaluru office will be responsible for implementing modern tools to meet growing business demands and increase employee satisfaction.
The company said the teams in Bengaluru will be part of its GBO network that operates in Poznan (Poland), Shanghai (China), and Baltimore (USA). The Bengaluru centre will be the focal point and hub for digital innovation, operations and development, alongside providing leadership, best practices, research and development, support and training, etc.
Last year, Ikea opened India’s first city store in Mumbai. The store spans over 80,000 square feet across three floors. Besides this, Ikea has two-large format stores in Hyderabad and Mumbai, set up in 2018 and 2019, respectively. In addition, the company has an online presence across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
Pharmaceutical giant GSK has set up its GCC in Bengaluru. With close to 100 years in the healthcare space in India, the company looks to grow its team in Bengaluru. The GCC team currently focuses on pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare.
The GCC in Bengaluru focuses on research and development and leverages genetics and advanced technologies to support its pharmaceutical business and consumer healthcare business by developing an innovative portfolio of consumer-preferred and expert-recommended brands in pain relief and respiratory care, skincare, digestive health, etc.
Last year, the convenience store giant 7-Eleven, in partnership with Reliance Industries group, launched its store in Mumbai. Before this, the Seven & i group had planned to open convenience stores in India with local retail giant Future Group, but unfortunately, the deal didn’t go through.
Last year, the company set up a new global tech centre in Bengaluru. The Bengaluru centre would be an extension of the core tech team based in Dallas. 7-Eleven has about 100 employees, and looks to double in size through 2022. The company is leveraging the Bengaluru centre to drive its digital transformation programmes
Last year, Vancouver-based fitness and sports apparel brand Lululemon opened a tech hub in India. The company plans to hire over 250 people by 2023. Currently, Lululemon has about 521+ stores across 17 countries. The centre in India would be responsible for technology innovation, leadership, and business development.
