In an increasingly globalised world, businesses are looking for efficient, cost-effective and scalable models to leverage global talent. Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are increasingly meeting this demand by enabling organisations to build specialised centres with core and critical capabilities. To understand this trend better, we spoke with Vikram Ahuja, Co-founder of ANSR and CEO of Talent500. In this article, we explain the critical relationship between skilling and GCCs and discuss how to solve pressing talent challenges.
GCCs: An efficient and scalable approach to harnessing global talent
India is becoming a favoured destination for setting up Global Capacity Centres (GCCs) due to the rich and diverse talent pool on offer. In addition to a vibrant startup ecosystem and strong services sector with homegrown industries, Vikram also says there’s the added benefit of language and global exposure. The development of intellectual capital in India further gives global businesses the confidence to produce world-class products in our country. Backed by strong regulatory and government incentives, infrastructural support, simplified investment and a tight-knit global network of global community, ANSR has been able to leverage tremendous opportunities and maintain a commanding edge in the GCC ecosystem.
After setting up nearly 150 GCCs, we’ve learned that conducting in-depth market research and studies to study the talent landscape before setting up a centre can simplify the operational, legal and deployment timelines. At ANSR, our quick-start and launchpad programs can help companies get started in as little as two weeks by removing inefficiencies and redundancies. Now, we are witnessing a demand to compress these timelines even further as companies want to start operations within seven days.
Nearly 1.7 million professionals are working at GCCs today, and this number is expected to rise to four and a half million by 2030. This will include both tech and non-tech roles, giving global businesses tremendous opportunity to tap into this talent pool. With the advent of AI, GCCs will evolve from simply offering R&D functions to replicas of full-fledged enterprises working efficiently and providing strategic value, Vikram explains. This, coupled with the rise of Indian professionals in global leadership roles, gives India the unique opportunity to manage global mandates and design forward-thinking business strategies. About 5,000 global leadership roles are hired from GCCs; we expect this number to rise to 30,000 in the next five to six years.
Skill gaps in talent: Challenges and opportunities
Millions of young professionals graduate in India every year, but their employability and skill expertise levels remain low. While the industry and institutions have recognised this challenge in the last decade, skills gaps in technology, specifically in newer tech stacks, data science, data engineering, cybersecurity, information security, and machine learning, are high, according to Vikram. While there are a lot of initiatives to ensure that India’s talent pool can compete globally, we are witnessing a gradual shift to training professionals at a younger age and equipping them with cross-functional knowledge to ensure they understand the evolving tech landscape. For senior professionals, there’s training to build higher autonomy, flexible mindsets and soft skills.
Information security, data security, data analytics and DevOps are all critical infrastructure-based functions that have gained massive importance today. As organisations leverage more data, they will increasingly invest in analytics, product engineering, and customer experiences. Businesses across industries are witnessing a higher degree of maturity in domain-specific roles and requirements as they realise everyone needs to build in-house data and tech expertise. This is particularly prevalent in retail and financial services, as these two sectors are the largest consumers of the GCC model. Professionals must build expertise in these domains and learn how to innovate existing processes to thrive in the future.
As GCCs gain more strategic importance, global organisations will increasingly build capacity for business-critical functions at these centres, creating tremendous learning opportunities for both existing professionals and the larger talent pool. ANSR is also investing in community-based and peer-based learning models, such as running master classes for different sub-communities of technology tracks for our two million-strong talent community. There’s a lot of receptivity from professionals to learn directly from industry practitioners, and we want to capitalise on this expectation to provide practical learning instead of theoretical classroom-based training. Finally, the onus of learning is also on professionals, who need to track industry trends and market changes carefully and invest their time in upskilling and reskilling their core competencies.
Developing future talent proactively through a nexus of multiple stakeholders
Building the talent landscape to deal with existing and future challenges will require a multi-stakeholder approach, wherein the state, industry bodies and employers come together. With increasing attention to building and managing GCCs, there is an impetus for policymakers and regulatory bodies to shore up foreign investment by drafting business-friendly policies. Organisations must also shoulder the responsibility of developing future talent pools by sharing their learnings across forums, platforms and collectives to bring together peoples and resources. Fortunately, the global GCC community is well-connected, and this network helped many global organisations adapt to a remote work model quickly during the pandemic as companies were able to learn from each other.
ANSR is helping employers build healthy and productive workplaces conducive to learning and applying best training practices. GCC’s unique model effectively facilitates peer-based learning and knowledge sharing and helps professionals access opportunities and resources they wouldn’t have otherwise. Our unique insights help organisations and professionals anticipate market changes in a timely manner and adapt. For example, we are a tech-first, AI-driven organisation and work closely with all our customers to identify opportunities for growth and development.
As tech paradigms shift, the need for skills will also evolve accordingly, and professionals will need to stay ahead of the curve. There’s a tremendous opportunity for academia, government, employers and learning providers like UNext to provide on-demand training and skilling courses that allow young professionals entering the workforce to hit the ground running. Players like UNext can build a learning-driven ecosystem that is always available, future-oriented and competitive. To excel in this goal, all stakeholders must be proactive in creating innovative learning platforms, opportunities and models that are nimble in their approach. The only way to future-proof your business and career is to encourage innovation through large-scale learning that builds a workforce capable of converting new ideas, disruptions or changes into an advantage. The time is ripe for adding momentum to developing future talent, and we must act urgently.
We are thrilled to announce the release of the Skillscape 2024: Navigating India’s Talent Horizon. Brought to you by UNext Learning & People Matters, this report offers valuable insights into navigating the future of work. Download your copy now!