Closures and slower hiring are fuelling concern over India’s office market, but large global capability centres continue to lease space as they shift towards specialised roles and more flexible workplaces.
Smaller closures in India’s global capability centre market are prompting fresh debate about office demand, but commercial property advisers say the bigger picture still points to continued leasing, not a broad retreat. Recent exits, including Cambium Networks’ Bengaluru centre, which affected about 200 employees, and Hy-Vee’s India engineering arm, which hit roughly 150 roles, have raised the question of whether restructuring by multinational groups will eventually mean fewer desks and smaller leases. Even so, the market remains anchored by large GCCs, which continue to take space even as they become more selective about hiring and long-term commitments.
According to ANAROCK Group, GCCs accounted for 45 per cent of 42.6 million square feet of gross office leasing across India’s top seven cities in the period covered by its data, with more than 40 per cent of that space taken in flexible workplaces. The consultancy expects GCCs to account for almost half of Grade A office demand across those cities in 2026, underscoring how central the segment has become to the country’s office market. Industry research also suggests that India now hosts more than 2,100 GCCs, employing about 2.36 million people and generating roughly $98.4 billion in revenue, reflecting how far the model has moved from back-office support towards core business functions.
The shift is also changing how these centres hire. Reporting in The Week in June said GCCs are moving away from large-scale recruitment and towards more specialised roles in artificial intelligence, cloud engineering, cybersecurity and data science. A separate S&P Global report published this year found that companies are prioritising process efficiency and employee productivity over direct job cuts, with headcount reduction a much lower priority than productivity gains. That is consistent with what real estate executives are hearing on the ground: firms want GCCs to do more in product development, platform management and AI without necessarily expanding payrolls at the same pace.
That dynamic could slow the rate at which office demand grows, but it does not necessarily imply a sharp fall in occupancy. Peush Jain, managing director for commercial leasing and advisory at ANAROCK Group, said large GCCs are seeking more flexible space, partly offsetting smaller closures. Kushal Bhargava, founder of MyBranch, said reductions in headcount often translate into fewer seats, smaller offices or phased expansion rather than a full departure, especially where leases are already in place. Manas Mehrotra, founder of 315Work Avenue, said GCCs are increasingly using managed and flexible offices to scale without heavy upfront commitments, with his firm seeing GCC clients account for more than 40 per cent of its portfolio. For landlords, the key question is whether today’s closures remain isolated adjustments or become the first sign that productivity-led growth will eventually translate into less space being absorbed.
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