Global giants rediscover Chennai.
Quality technology talent, sound infrastructure and relatively lower cost of living keep Chennai on the radar of MNCs that want to set up “back offices” or “offshore” units. But the city lost out to Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the early 2000s when Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Amazon, Facebook, and many others setup tech GCCs (global capability centres).
Post-pandemic, it’s Chennai’s turn to ride the GCC growth wave. In the last two months, more than 10
global companies have either set up new technology centres in the city or expanded existing ones.
They include Amazon, ZoomInfo, Zoom, Kapitus, Tredence NielsenIQ, Trimble, Mitsogo and BNY Mellon. The companies say they have found more than 50% of the staff needed and are hiring more.
That’s a nod to Chennai’s talent pool, but the ease of dealing with bodies such as the Guidance Bureau has also helped. Tamil Nadu is the only state to be working on separate policies for GCC and R&D, which when unveiled may attract more MNCs.
Amazon, which has its largest office in Hyderabad, made Chennai its second largest hub taking up several floors at the swanky World Trade Centre to house some 6,000 employees.
Zoom, which has a tech centre in Bengaluru, picked Chennai for its second hub. Working with the global engineering team in the US, the Chennai centre will drive Zoom’s contact centre software. “We have already opened up positions for this centre and hiring is on,” Velchamy Sankaralingam, president, product and engineering, Zoom, told TOI.
It’s not just basic tech/engineering jobs, high-value jobs too are coming Chennai’s way. Analytics firm NielsenIQ inaugurated its largest global hub with a capacity in excess of 2,000 staff in April. “Here,
we will harness the power of data science, engineering, AI and ML to give our clients an even more detailed understanding of the retail landscape and shopper behavior,” says Mohit Kapoor, global CTO, NielsenIQ.
The action is not just in Chennai. Deloitte India, for instance, has set up one of its ‘capability enhancement centres’ in Coimbatore. “The 100,000 sqft centre will enhance our technology capabilities and client delivery in key areas such as cyber, cloud, analytics, AI and ERP,” says a spokesperson.
“Without positioning ourselves in comparison with other states, Tamil Nadu is excelling on its own strengths,” says Information Technology (IT) secretary Neeraj Mittal. The GCCs being set up here are also offering high quality and high paying jobs and are not just offshore centres, he adds. “While TN was a hub for GCCs two decades back when Citigroup, Bank of America and American Express made a beeline to the state, neighbouring states marketed themselves aggressively and attracted technology majors.
It is heartening to see Tamil Nadu doubling down on enterprise GCCs,” says Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, former CMD, Cognizant India, and partner, Catalincs. However, data from consulting firm Zinnov shows Tamil Nadu hosts just about 10% of the total GCC talent in India. In terms of sectoral mix, software, automotive, and industrial verticals account for almost 50% of the GCCs in the state.
Specialist staffing firm Xpheno says attrition among the talent here is 2-3% below hyper competitive Bengaluru.
“TN, as a state, has an inviting mix of state driven policies, high-end infrastructure and financially attractive investment & development schemes to woo higher-tech and ERD-focused GCCs. Between Chennai and Coimbatore an established GCC talent capacity of a 1.3lakh-plus workforce is in action,” says Kamal Karanth, co-founder, Xpheno. “TN has almost been like a backbencher when it came to GCCs as senior talent was not very receptive to relocate to Chennai,” says Mohammed Faraz Khan, partner, Zinnov.
“However, the IT/ BPM talent in the state and saturation in other markets is turning out to be positives,” he says. There is still a perception issue with the state that needs to be addressed, and a stronger “GCC sub-culture and community” needs to be encouraged to benefit from the network effects, he adds.
Source; TOI