Quess Corp: India's GCCs face 38%-42% AI skill gap
India's Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are struggling to find enough skilled people for AI and data roles, according to a new Quess Corp report.
The skill gap is pretty wide, about 38% to 42%, which means there just aren't enough experts for areas like generative AI and machine learning ops.
Even though there are around 400,000 core AI professionals in the country, only six out of every 10 open positions have about six candidates available.
Most GCC tech jobs in AI/data/cloud/cybersecurity
With demand rising fast, 60% of tech jobs at GCCs now focus on AI, data, cloud, or cybersecurity—double what it was two years ago.
Recruiters are especially busy in IT services and BFSI sectors, where the talent gap hits 42% in BFSI GCCs.
Because of this shortage, companies are turning more to contract hires for specialized skills.
Salaries for these roles have shot up too, 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than those for traditional IT jobs, and most hiring is happening in big cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad since advanced talent is still scarce elsewhere.