Wall Street’s growing reliance on Indian centers — known as Global Capability Centers (GCC) — to recruit talent will further accelerate as US President Donald Trump moves to tighten immigration policies and raise the cost of H-1B visas. The move is expected to push big firms to expand their back-office and technology operations in India, where a huge pool of skilled talent and lower costs offer a competitive edge.
This shift is already visible, with large companies expanding their teams in India. JPMorgan Chase & Co is hiring credit support specialists in Bengaluru to track covenant violations, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc is looking for associates to review loans. Private equity giant KKR & Co is also adding staff to review its portfolio companies, and hedge fund Millennium Management LLC is hiring risk analysts for its derivatives trading team, Bloomberg reported.
India is considered one of the biggest hubs for tech talent globally. According to Colliers’s Global Tech Markets: Top Talent Locations 2025 report, it ranks alongside China and Japan as one of the few countries where cities are represented in the top 10 global rankings.
The H-1B visa limits fuel expansion
According to Bloomberg, senior executives of two US banks in India are in talks with their headquarters to strengthen their GCCs in direct response to the crackdown on H-1B visas. Some lenders even want to cancel offer letters for US positions or create alternative roles in their GCCs in India.
Donald Trump’s new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications — which JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said “caught everyone by surprise” — could add to India’s competitive advantage.
Ben Hodzic, director of North America at recruitment firm Selby Jennings, said: “With the new fee, (companies) are starting to question whether this work is a priority for them, particularly maths or computer science-intensive work.
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The acceleration underscores the limits of Trump’s strategy to secure domestic employment, as tighter immigration controls on higher-skilled workers push job roles abroad. Even before the visa transition, employment at these centers was projected to grow 50% to 2.8 million people by 2030, based on estimates last year by the National Association of Software and Services Companies and consulting firm Zinnov.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers criticized the hiring of the banks, saying, “The fact that these banks are moving their operations to markets where labor is now cheaper because they can’t abuse the H-1B system is evidence that they have been using foreign workers to undercut American wages.”
However, Vivek Ramji Iyer, a partner at Grant Thornton Bharat LLP, defended the acceleration of recruitment in India, saying: “India is no longer just a low-cost destination with cheap labour, but a deep talent market.”
Transition from back office to critical center
What began in the 1990s as low-cost back-office centers have transformed into important operational centers of global finance. Sprawling campuses in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram and Mumbai now employ armies of quants, risk analysts, investment and technical staff. The six largest US banks employ about 150,000 staff in their GCC locations, with Goldman and Morgan Stanley having more staff in India than anywhere outside the US.
The work in these centers is becoming more and more sophisticated. Groundbreaking projects are carried out in these centers. The significance of these nodes is such that if one European bank were to face a disaster in India, such as an earthquake, it would disrupt the bank’s operations more than a similar disaster at its headquarters, Bloomberg reports.
Why are companies attracted to India?
Global firms are already hiring fast, even before the visa crackdown began. Goldman GCC’s India workforce has grown to over 8,000 from 300 when it first started operations in Bengaluru in 2004.
It offers significant wage savings for Indian employees compared to other countries. An engineering graduate could earn between ₹300,000 ($3,384). ₹800,000 per annum for an entry-level job in the GCC of a US bank; however, it also depends on the location. That compares to $60,000 for an Indian with a US visa and up to $120,000 for a US citizen in the same role, Bloomberg reports.
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This growth reflects a deepening talent pool. Goldman promoted 38 people to managing director in Bengaluru this month, the most number of MD promotions after New York and London.
“Over the decades, India has become a key geographic hub for banks to expand into the GCC,” said Pramod Kumar, CEO of Barclays Plc’s India unit. Looking ahead, he predicts the trend is likely to gain momentum.
Key things
- US companies are increasingly hiring in India due to the crackdown on H-1B visas, leading to the expansion of Global Capability Centers (GCCs).
- Talent in India is evolving from cheap labor to sophisticated operational hubs, reflecting its strategic importance in global finance.
- Major banks are increasing recruitment in India and significant roles are being created for skilled positions in technology and finance, further strengthening India’s position as a key player in the global job market.
