GCCs Offering Upto 20% Higher Salaries Than IT Services: Report

As India's technology sector continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, emerging as a global hub for innovation and digital expertise, it is important to understand the dynamics of talent demand, skill preferences and remunerations. Catering to this need, TeamLease Digital has released its latest report titled Digital Skills & Salary Primer for FY 2025 that provides essential insights into the latest industry trends, critical skills, and salary benchmarks across the three key tech sectors of IT Products & Services, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), and Non-Tech industries. This comprehensive report offers a comparative analysis of skill demand between FY 2024 and FY 2025, breaking down salaries by job function, city, experience level, and specific roles. Additionally, the report assesses high-demand skills and relevant certifications, providing strategic recommendations to address skill gaps and align with market needs.

Offering an overview of the tech market, TeamLease Digital’s report shows that as of FY24, India’s tech market size stood at USD 254 billion, with a 3.8 per cent year-on-year growth and 5.6 million tech workforce. From 2020 to 2024, India saw advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain Tech, IoT, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Edge Computing, and Quantum Computing with essential tools like Python, R, TensorFlow, and PyTorch. However, highlighting a significant lack of expertise only 2.5 per cent of engineers in India possess AI skills, and merely 5.5 per cent are qualified with basic programming abilities. In response to this growing tech skills gap, 86 per cent of Indian businesses are actively reskilling their IT workers. 

Global Capability Centers (GCCs)

The Indian tech industry is projected to reach $350 billion by 2025, with significant investments in AI, ML, and blockchain. Playing a vital role in driving efficiency and innovation, India currently has 1600+ GCCs employing over 1.66 million professionals. According to the report, India is poised to welcome 800 new GCCs in the next 5-6 years, highlighting the country’s growing prominence as a global tech hub. Interestingly, a growing trend of establishing GCCs in tier-II cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara, indicating a geographical diversification of tech opportunities across the country. Skills that are seeing an increasing demand are PyTorch, AWS, DevOps, NLP, Kubernetes, Hyperledger Fabric, Blockchain, Tableau, SQL, and ServiceNow.

IT Products & Services and Non-Tech Industries

In IT Products & Services, cloud investment is set to grow by 25-30 per cent in the next 5 years. IT Products & Services is expected to account for 8 per cent of India's GDP by 2026 and create 14 million jobs by adopting cloud solutions, underlining the sector's potential for economic impact. While the skills of PrismaCloud, Salesforce, ITSM, PowerBI, and Oracle are seeing a high uptake, the report identifies the decreasing demand for Sketch, UI Path, Splunk and Automation Anywhere.

The traditionally non-tech industries are also being transformed through the use of advanced technologies with over 70 per cent of the companies in Telecom, Media and Entertainment, BFSI, and Energy and Utilities sectors, dedicating more than 20 per cent of their technology budgets to digital advancements. The tech talent pool in this non-tech sector is also expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.86 per cent reaching from 7.65 lakhs in FY22 to 11.15 lakhs by FY27 highlighting the increasing integration of technology across various traditional industries. In addition, given the scope of the sector, the range of trending skills is expansive. However, skills that are experiencing a lower uptake are Gimp, Zendesk, Nagios, Google Cloud SDK, and OpenStack CLI.

Key Functional Areas, Top Skills & Salaries

TeamLease Digital's report identifies key functional areas in the tech industry that include Software Development and Engineering, Cloud Solutions and Enterprise Application Management, Project Management and User Experience, Data Management and Analytics, Cybersecurity and Network Development, and System Operations and Tech Support Services. These areas represent the core competencies driving India's tech sector forward.

The report offers valuable insights into in-demand skills and corresponding salary brackets. In GCCs, AI/ML Engineer job functions have an approx. starting salary of INR 8.2 LPA that can go up to INR 43 LPA at senior levels with 8+ years of experience. In the IT Products & Services sector, a Big Data Developer can command a salary of approx. INR 9.7 LPA at starting levels and INR 20.7 LPA at senior levels. Considering tech functions in non-tech sectors, the role of SAP ABAP Consultant has a starting salary of approx. INR 7.2 LPA that can go as high as INR 31 LPA at 8+ years of experience. Other in-demand roles include DevOps Engineer, IoT Engineer, Information Security Analyst and Automation Engineer, each commanding competitive salaries based on experience and expertise.

Elaborating on the findings of the report, Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital, said, “As we navigate the future, the Indian technology sector is poised for exponential growth, driven by the relentless pursuit of innovation and strategic investments in cutting-edge technologies. The Indian Tech industry is on track to reach $350 billion in revenue by 2025, with significant investments in AI, machine learning, and blockchain totaling over $9 billion in 2023 alone. This surge is fueled by the rise of remote work and digital-first strategies, which have accelerated cloud computing adoption and are expected to propel the cloud market to grow at a CAGR of 22% over the next five years. Emerging technologies like 5G and IoT are set to further redefine India’s tech landscape, ensuring that the nation remains at the forefront of global technological advancements.”

Multi-city Comparison

TeamLease Digital’s Report also presents a comparative multi-city salary analysis of the top 10 popular tech job functions identified based on industry demand, salary potential, technological advancements, strategic importance, geographical relevance, and future growth potential. Product Management and Data Science function tend to be the highest paying across most cities, with salary ranges typically spanning from INR 12.8 LPA to INR 22.1 LPA for Product Management and from INR 12.1 LPA to INR 16.9 LPA for Data Science, depending on the city and its tech industry presence. Metro cities Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai offer the highest salaries for tech job roles, while Jaipur, Indore and Coimbatore are the upcoming hubs currently in an evolution phase, given these are projected to be GCC and Data Center hubs, the functions of Data Science, Product Management, and Data Engineering are seeing a demand growth, while Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing are still in nascent stages.

The report also reveals significant salary growth across key tech functions, underscoring the increasing demand for specialized skills in the industry. Entry-level Data Engineering roles are experiencing a robust 12.07 per cent year-on-year salary increase from FY24 to FY25. Product Management professionals at the mid-level are looking at a substantial 10.2 per cent rise in compensation, while senior roles in Data Science and DevOps are witnessing nearly 11 per cent growth in salaries over the same period. These figures highlight the accelerating value of expertise in these critical areas as the industry continues to evolve.

Women Representation

TeamLease Digital’s report also illuminates light on women's representation in the tech workforce. Currently, there are 20.5 lakh women tech professionals in India. In GCCs, the percentage of women tech professionals is expected to increase from 25 to 35 per cent by 2027. However, the report also reveals a persistent gender pay gap in the tech industry, ranging from 10-17 per cent on average and sometimes reaching 22-30 per cent for roles like Data Analysis.