New Delhi, April 20 : Indian employees are offered 1.5-times to 2.5-times salary premiums in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) GCCs as they are grappling with a 42 per cent skill gap in AI and data roles, a report said on Monday.

Replacement hiring showed a huge surge and it accounted for 40 per cent of all recruitment activity in Indiaâ??s Global Capability Centre ecosystem, the report from workforce solutions firm Quess Corp said.

The rise in replacement hiring was driven by shorter tenure expectations among Gen Z employees, to under 24 months.

Hiring in Indiaâ??s Global Capability Centre ecosystem posted a 12â??14 per cent quarterâ??onâ??quarter growth in Q4 FY26, a sharp rise from the 4â??6 per cent growth recorded in the previous quarter.

Following a conservative start to the quarter, momentum rebounded strongly toward the fiscal year-end.

The trend showed a marked shift from selective optimisation in Q3 to a broader recoveryâ??led expansion, the report noted.

The changes in recruitment cycles and employee retainment are forcing GCCs to balance aggressive expansion with the need for organizational continuity, it added.

â??As GCCs evolve into strategic global hubs, the focus must shift toward balancing rapid scale with long-term capability building to ensure sustained growth,â?? said Kapil Joshi, CEO of IT Staffing.

While demand remains anchored in AI-driven capabilities, platform engineering, and infrastructure modernisation, persistent talent shortages continue to impact the pace of scaling.

AI and Data domain showed the highest talent gap with 38â??42 per cent skills shortage. Platform engineering and cloud infrastructure also showed shortages of 32â??36 per cent and 28â??32 per cent respectively.

The bottleneck is not a lack of open positions, but a scarcity of specialized expertise in areas like AI/ML Ops, necessitating internal upskilling initiatives, the report noted.

The expansion in GCC hiring was supported by an increased active GCC footprint, signalling renewed enterprise confidence.

Hiring, however, remained concentrated in Tierâ??1 cities, accounting for 88â??90 per cent of GCC recruitment, led by Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

While Tier-2 cities grew their share to 10â??12 per cent, nearly half of all complex technical mandates remain 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 scale," the report said.

/IANS