VIENNA — With its huge population, competitively-priced labor, increasing female workforce participation and army of skilled professionals, India is a market that can offer many advantages as recruitment companies try to adapt to coming challenges.
“There are more than 1,700 offshore corporate offices in India, owned by hundreds of foreign-based multinational companies. There are currently around two million people in India working as full-time employees for foreign companies. India is ground zero, presenting an opportunity for cross-border hiring — especially as many Western economies face shortages of skilled workers,” said Vir Kashyap (above), general partner at Zeetah Ventures.
Speaking at RecBuzz, he shed light on how AI and the global talent shortage are reshaping the recruitment landscape.
With Western economies grappling with significant skilled labor gaps and remote work becoming the norm, India is emerging as a strategic hub for cross-border hiring.
The country hosts over 1,700 global capability centers (GCCs), employing around two million professionals in roles for foreign multinationals. GCCs enable parent organizations to develop specialized expertise in fields like advanced analytics, AI, research and development and digital innovation by tapping into skilled professionals in more affordable regions.
“AI is enabling faster, cheaper and more scalable talent matching, making Indian talent more accessible to global employers than ever before,” said Kashyap.
“However, the rise of AI also presents real risks. Many tasks are increasingly automatable. As AI tools continue to evolve, there’s growing concern about job displacement and the future relevance of today’s job postings… For job boards, it is important to ask how many current job postings will not exist in five years due to AI.”
Still, Kashyap remains optimistic about India’s potential: with projections that half of the country’s workforce will be AI-native by 2035 — and with 45% female participation — India is well-positioned to lead the next wave of global digital collaboration. With a large workforce to train models, AI unlocks cross-border work, he told RecBuzz, with fast and cheap talent assessment making matchmaking at scale possible.
