Quess Corp enters GCC space with new centre for US healthcare wearables firm

Guruprasad Srinivasan, Group Chief Executive Officer of Quess Corp

Quess Corp has set up its first Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India for a US-based healthcare wearables company, marking the staffing firm’s entry into the sector. The move highlights India's growing dominance as the global hub for captive operations, as more companies follow suit in setting up GCCs.

"This is the first time that in Q3 we did set up (GCC) one for a healthcare wearable company with headquarters in the US, setting up their complete GCC," Guruprasad Srinivasan, Group Chief Executive Officer of Quess Corp, told Moneycontrol.

The Bengaluru-based company is using its existing capabilities in workforce management, human resource services, and infrastructure management in its venture into the GCC space. “We have our own facility infrastructure management company, which is in a demerger scenario that will be Bluespring (Enterprises) so they can manage the entire infrastructure,” Srinivasan added.

In February, Quess Corp announced the demerger of its business into three separate firms to unlock value, with Bluspring Enterprises taking care of facility management, industrial services, and investments.

Moreover, the firm is in discussions with multiple companies for setting up more GCCs.

“These are not asset-heavy businesses when I talk about GCCs. Everything is cost-plus. It's only ensuring that we anchor them by getting the people, devices, and infrastructure together,” he added.

Meanwhile, the company is witnessing strong traction in GCC mandates, with 67 percent of new mandates coming from this segment. Additionally, GCCs contribute 50 percent of Quess Corp’s IT staffing revenue, which shows the increasing demand for Indian talent among global firms.

While US remains the dominant player in setting up GCCs, the company is also seeing interest from Asia, particularly Japanese and Southeast Asian companies. “Japanese firms are in talks to set up 100 to 300-seater GCCs, and we are also in discussions with companies in Singapore,” Srinivasan added.

Quess Corp is seeing strong demand in AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data analytics, robotic process automation (RPA), and DevOps. As a result of not venturing into entry-level positions at this stage and focusing on the 5 to 12-year experience roles, it is into high-margin and long-term contract space.

In October 2024, Srinivasan said margins from recruits in GCCs are three times higher than those in information technology (IT) staffing. The trend in margins is still intact, although, volumes have moderated.

Nonetheless, for the October-December 2024 quarter (Q3FY25), the company revenue rose 7 percent sequentially to Rs 5,519 crore, margins were down 20 basis points at 3.6 percent, and profit was down 9 percent at Rs 85 crore.

The company added around 50,000 employees to its total workforce between April and December.