Published: October 23, 2026
StartupFeed Quick Take
- 67,000 jobs will open in India’s healthcare GCCs in 2026, up from 63,200 in 2025
- Only 1.6 people are free for each specialist data and AI role, against 4.8 across all roles
- Senior AI leaders earn 6.5 to 8 times the overall median pay, and seats stay empty for 90 days
India’s healthcare GCCs will open 67,000 jobs in 2026, with Bengaluru and Hyderabad taking most of them.
Growth has slowed hard. These centres are the in-house offices foreign firms run in India. A Quess Corp report dated October 23 shows demand jumped 97.5% last year, from 32,000 roles in 2024 to 63,200 in 2025.
The 2026 number is only about 6% higher. The money has moved to a thin layer of senior staff. The Economic Times reported on October 23 that senior AI leaders earn 6.5 to 8 times the overall median.
Such seats stay empty for up to 90 days.
Healthcare GCCs Will Hire 67,000 Roles in 2026, Growth Down to 6%
India’s healthcare GCCs will advertise about 67,000 roles this year. Of that, 93% is for people with three to 12 years behind them.
Openings for the three to seven year band come to 38,391. The seven to 12 year band adds 23,856. Fresher demand is falling.
The 2026 list is weighted to the middle. Only about 4,750 of the 67,000 openings sit outside those two bands.
The sector is not small. India now has 155 healthcare GCC organisations employing about 3.2 lakh people.
This year’s demand equals a fifth of that installed base. Hiring nearly doubled in 2025, which is why the 2026 slowdown matters.
Kapil Joshi, chief executive of Quess IT Solutions, named the problem in one line on October 23.
“Yet the defining issue is the talent gap.”
Kapil Joshi, chief executive, Quess IT Solutions. From the company statement on the report, October 23, 2026.
Only 1.6 Candidates Exist for Every Specialist AI Role
For every specialist data, analytics and AI role, India’s healthcare GCCs have about 1.6 available people. Across all roles the ratio is 4.8. Market access, patient services and analytics sits at 1.6 too.
That shortage shows up in pay. Specialists with three to seven years in AI and machine learning earn 105% more than the median for their band. Data staff in the same band get 44% more.
Healthcare GCCs are paying up to 2.5 times the overall median for scarce AI and machine learning skills. Specialist roles also take 1.5 to two times as long to fill as general ones.
The hardest people to find mix both worlds. Candidates with eight to 15 years across healthcare and technology are the thinnest part of the market.
Where the 67,000 Openings Sit, by Role Family
Data, analytics and AI make up 4,404 of the 67,000 openings, which is 6.6% of the total. That is the smallest of the three specialist families, and the hardest to fill. Demand in it has grown 147.3% since 2023, from 1,781 roles.
Two bigger families sit beside it. Regulatory, quality and compliance work has more than doubled to 6,147 roles. Research, clinical development and biometrics is up 82.5% to 5,421.
| Specialist role family | 2026 openings | Change since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory, quality and compliance | 6,147 | More than doubled |
| R&D, clinical development, biometrics and statistics | 5,421 | Up 82.5% |
| Data, analytics and AI | 4,404 | Up 147.3% |
Together the three specialist families hold 15,972 of the 67,000 openings, about 24% of the total. The other 51,000 roles are the wider business and support layer.
AI is in about 60% of these centres today. The 2030 forecast is 80% to 90%, as AI moves into clinical and regulatory work.
Banking GCCs Face a 42% AI Gap and Pay Similar Premiums
Healthcare is not alone. In the March 2026 quarter, GCCs in banking and financial services carried a 42% gap in AI and data roles. They paid 1.5 to 2.5 times normal IT pay to close it.
GCC hiring across India grew 12% to 14% quarter on quarter in that period. Shortages ran 38% to 42% in AI and data analytics, and 32% to 36% in platform engineering.
Healthcare’s top premium of 2.5 times sits in the same band as banking’s. The difference is the clinical layer on top. Banking is the biggest GCC sector by share, while healthcare and pharma hold about 7%.
Pharma and healthcare also led non-tech GCC demand in the first half of 2026, growing 15.6% year on year, ahead of banking at 12.9%.
Bengaluru and Hyderabad Hold 62% of the Workforce
Bengaluru and Hyderabad hold 62.2% of the existing healthcare GCC workforce and 58.4% of the 2026 demand. Bengaluru alone has 1.09 lakh people in these centres. Another 23,600 roles will open there this year.
Hyderabad is the second anchor. Between them the two cities will take about 39,100 of the 2026 roles.
Bengaluru holds about 34% of the national healthcare GCC workforce. Its 23,600 new roles equal 22% of the people already there. The national ratio is 21%.
That single city takes 35% of the national demand, by our own count. The rest of India, outside the two leaders, is left with about 41.6% of the openings.
For a health-tech founder in Pune, Chennai or Noida, that 41.6% is the opening.
What this means for you: If you run a health-tech startup or a GCC hiring desk in Bengaluru or Hyderabad, you are bidding for the same 1.6 candidates per role. Budget for a 90-day fill and a premium of 105% on AI pay before you open a senior role in 2026.
StartupFeed Insight
The headline is 67,000 jobs. The number that matters is 6%. Demand grew 97.5% in 2025 and will grow about 6% in 2026, by our own count from the Quess figures. The boom is over. The squeeze has started. Money is moving to a thin layer of 4,404 data and AI roles while fresher hiring falls. Watch the March 2027 quarter. Expect healthcare GCCs to report near flat headcount with double-digit growth in cost per employee, and expect Hyderabad to close part of Bengaluru’s 1.09 lakh lead.
By Avinash Mishra, Business Correspondent
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