New Delhi, April 20 (NationPress) Employees in India's banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are seeing salary premiums ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 times due to a staggering 42 percent skill gap in AI and data-related roles, according to a report released on Monday.

The report by workforce solutions firm Quess Corp highlighted a significant increase in replacement hiring, which now represents 40 percent of all recruitment activities within India's GCC landscape.

This surge in replacement hiring is largely driven by the shorter tenure expectations of Gen Z employees, who now anticipate staying in roles for less than 24 months.

In Q4 FY26, hiring within the GCC ecosystem in India experienced a remarkable 12 to 14 percent growth compared to the previous quarter's 4 to 6 percent.

After a cautious beginning to the quarter, hiring momentum grew significantly as the fiscal year came to a close.

The findings indicate a shift from selective optimization in Q3 to a more comprehensive recovery-led expansion.

Moreover, changes in recruitment cycles and employee retention strategies are compelling GCCs to find a balance between aggressive growth and maintaining organizational stability.

“As GCCs transition into strategic global hubs, the emphasis must be on balancing rapid expansion with long-term capability development to ensure sustainable growth,” stated Kapil Joshi, CEO of IT Staffing.

While demand remains strong for AI-driven competencies, platform engineering, and infrastructure modernization, persistent talent shortages continue to hinder scaling efforts.

The AI and Data domain exhibits the most significant talent gap, with a 38 to 42 percent shortage of necessary skills. Platform engineering and cloud infrastructure also face shortages of 32 to 36 percent and 28 to 32 percent, respectively.

The issue is not a lack of available positions, but rather a dearth of specialized talent in areas such as AI/ML Ops, which calls for internal upskilling initiatives.

Additionally, the growth in GCC hiring has been bolstered by an expanding active GCC footprint, signaling renewed confidence among enterprises.

However, most hiring remains concentrated in Tier-1 cities, which account for 88 to 90 percent of GCC recruitment, primarily led by Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

While Tier-2 cities have increased their share to 10 to 12 percent, nearly half of all complex technical roles are still concentrated in Tier-1 hubs. “This reinforces a 'hub-and-spoke' model, where Tier-1 locations drive innovation while Tier-2 cities focus on execution and operational scaling,” the report concluded.