Key insights
- Indian global capability centers, which host operations for many US companies, are reducing hiring plans by 30-50% due to AI and geopolitical uncertainty. Companies are building smaller core workforces with flexible scaling options. While this signals caution, new entrants may drive growth. The impact on US equities is slightly negative, reflecting potential cost efficiencies but also reduced growth in outsourced operations.
Investing.com - Global capability centres in India are taking a measured approach to hiring as companies navigate geopolitical uncertainties and the growing adoption of artificial intelligence, according to the CEO of ANSR, which helps firms build and run global centres.
Lalit Ahuja, who also founded ANSR, said Monday that companies are reducing their workforce plans by 30% to 50%. Some firms that initially planned global centres with more than 5,000 employees are now scaling back those ambitions to about 2,000 workers.
"There is a sense of cautiousness," Ahuja told Reuters. "Companies are hiring fewer people, just as a matter of abundant caution."
India currently hosts more than half of the world’s global centres, attracting companies with its large skilled workforce, lower operating costs and increasing ability to support high-value jobs across technology, finance and engineering. However, the rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping the kind of work these centres perform and reducing headcounts for certain roles.
ANSR works with clients including FedEx, Target and Lowe’s.
India is expected to host nearly 2,200 global centres with a talent base of 2.36 million by the end of the fiscal year ending in March, according to a report this month from IT industry body Nasscom and consultancy Zinnov.
With subdued hiring expected in the near term, new entrants are anticipated to drive growth, Ahuja said. Companies are building a core workforce alongside a larger flexible pool that can be scaled up or down based on business needs.
"Companies are now undertaking bold experiments," Ahuja said. "You can always hire more, but it’s always difficult to let go of people."
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