By Rishika Sadam and Sai Ishwarbharath B
Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. financial services firm Charles Schwab plans to expand the workforce at its newly opened India-based global capability centre to about 2,000 employees by the end of 2027, according to a state government statement.
Hiring will happen over phases, with an initial target of approximately 500 in the first year, the company said in a statement.
The expansion comes at a time when companies are being cautious about adding headcount as they adopt
artificial intelligence to boost efficiencies, especially in software and R&D. Standard Chartered has said roles at its back-office centres in India would be affected by a restructuring programme while Wells Fargo said that artificial intelligence could eventually reduce parts of its workforce.
Charles Schwab's global centre in the southern city of Hyderabad, inaugurated on Wednesday, will provide technology development, engineering and operational support for the firm's U.S. businesses.
The firm plans to bring some technology work currently handled by contractors in India in-house at this centre, according to the government statement.
"So the ones who are laying off have already been around for quite some time in India and they are optimising on their bloated workforce with AI," Pareekh Jain, founder of technology consulting firm EIIRTrend, said.
"The new companies will continue to open centres and build teams from scratch."
India has emerged as the world's largest global capability centre hub, with more than 2,100 centers employing about 2.36 million people and generating nearly $100 billion in revenue, according to a 2026 report by Nasscom-Zinnov.
Financial firms including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Barclays and American Express account for a fourth of the country's overall GCC workforce.
The state of Telangana, with Hyderabad as its capital, hosts more than 475 global centres and expects to add another 100 over the next year, Information Technology Minister Sridhar Babu told Reuters on Wednesday.
(Writing by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
