Global centres in India slow hiring as AI reshapes work, ANSR CEO says

By Haripriya Suresh and Shivansh Tiwary

BENGALURU, May 18 (Reuters) - Global capability centres in India are being measured while hiring as companies are wary ‌about the impact of geopolitical uncertainties and growing AI adoption, the ‌CEO of ANSR, which helps firms build and run global centres, said on Monday.

India is home ​to more than half of the world's global centres as companies prefer its large skilled workforce, lower operating costs and rising ability to support high-value jobs across technology, finance and engineering.

However, the rise of artificial intelligence could test that edge by ‌reducing headcounts for some roles ⁠and reshaping the kind of work global centres do.

"There is a sense of cautiousness," Lalit Ahuja, also the founder of ANSR, ⁠told Reuters. "Companies are hiring fewer people, just as a matter of abundant caution."

ANSR counts FedEx, Target and Lowe's among its clients.

Ahuja says that hiring is being slashed by ​30% ​to 50%, with some firms that had ​planned global centres with more than ‌5,000 employees scaling those ambitions back to about 2,000. He did not give further details.

India is expected to host nearly 2,200 global centres and a talent base of 2.36 million by the end of the fiscal year that ends in March, IT industry body Nasscom and consultancy Zinnov said in a report this ‌month.

FLEXIBLE WORKFORCE

With hiring expected to be subdued ​in the near term, new entrants would drive ​growth, Ahuja said, as companies ​build a core workforce, alongside a larger flexible pool that ‌can be scaled up or down based ​on business needs.

That ​reflects growing fatigue with a "wait-and-watch" approach, as companies choose to hire fewer people than planned, begin work on a smaller scale and see how ​it evolves.

"Companies are now undertaking ‌bold experiments," Ahuja said.

"You can always hire more, but it's always ​difficult to let go of people."

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Shivansh ​Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)