Starbucks to set up first India GCC in Chennai, plans to hire 800

Global coffee retail chain Starbucks has announced plans to set up a global capability centre (GCC) in Chennai, which is expected to create 800 new jobs.

The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government to establish the centre.

According to a statement, this marks the first time Starbucks is setting up a GCC in India, with Tamil Nadu chosen as the location for the expansion. The new entity will operate independently of Starbucks’ retail business joint venture in India with Tata Consumer Products.

Starbucks Coffee Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Anand Varadarajan said the availability of skilled talent in Chennai and lower attrition rates were among the factors that influenced the company’s decision to establish the GCC in Tamil Nadu.

India has become a leading global destination for GCCs and the country now hosts more than 2,100 such units rising from the level of 1,600 five years ago. This segment now employs around 2.3 million professionals and has become a key growth engine for India’s $300 billion technology industry.

This is also reflected in the hiring pattern among the GCCs. A study by Xpheno, a specialist recruitment firm, noted that in FY25, GCCs recruited 110,000 candidates, 10,000 more than the traditional IT services companies. In FY26, GCCs hired 180,000 candidates which was 60,000 more than the IT services companies.

The growth of GCCs is also reflected in the kind of companies which are setting up their centres in India.

While US-based multinationals were among the early adopters, the trend has now expanded to companies from Europe and Japan.

Also, mid-tier companies and startups in the developed countries especially in the United States are setting up GCCs in India.

These GCCs have also moved up the value chain where many such units have become key centres that are coming out with new solutions along with managing the entire functions from India.