Pay hike boom at GCCs! Global capability centres may give double-digit hikes, better pay than top IT companies in FY26 – Times of India-OxBig News Network

Pay hike boom! Global capability centres (GCCs) are expected to offer more substantial salary increases compared to Indian IT service providers in the upcoming fiscal year beginning April, as these multinational subsidiaries aim to retain crucial talent essential for their continued expansion.
GCCs have established themselves as organisations offering better compensation than domestic IT companies, whilst also maintaining a more aggressive hiring strategy.
According to estimates from mass recruitment firm Teamlease shared with ET, IT services firms are projected to implement salary increases of 5-8% on average for FY26, with top performers receiving 12-14%.
GCCs, however, are expected to provide an average increase of 10%, while exceptional performers could receive 15-20% increments.
According to Teamlease Digital chief executive Neeti Sharma, GCCs are currently offering 15-20% higher starting salaries to new graduates in artificial intelligence/machine learning and cloud positions during this financial year.
Whilst junior and mid-level positions show considerable salary variations, senior roles with over eight years of experience see similar salary increases of 27-29% across both GCCs and IT services.
Cloud engineering positions show the smallest salary gap between GCCs and IT firms across all levels, indicating strong market demand for these specialists, Sharma noted.
For positions including robotic process automation developer, internet of things engineer and full-stack developer, GCCs offer approximately 12-15% higher compensation, she indicated.
In UI/UX design, GCCs provide notably higher compensation with “a median salary of Rs 27.3 lakh per annum, compared with Rs 11.7 lakh in the IT sector,” Sharma said.
She attributed this difference to GCCs’ focus on product development and user research capabilities, which represent newer functional areas.