Location is a decision.
Not a default.
Most GCC advice starts with a city and works backwards. We start with the functions you are building, the retention you need and the cost you can defend to a board — and the location falls out of that analysis.
Four structures. The assessment tells you which one is yours.
Specialist depth
Where the scarce skills concentrate
The deepest pools for advanced AI and machine learning, cybersecurity and semiconductor engineering. You pay a premium in both compensation and attrition — and for genuinely scarce capability, it is worth paying.
Product engineering
Where most mid-market builds belong
Strong mid-to-senior engineering depth at materially lower compensation, with meaningfully better retention. For product engineering, platform, DevOps and QA this is the best risk-adjusted structure available — and it is where most of our engagements land.
Cost priority
Where the economics lead
A further 25–30% cost advantage, a fast-growing engineering base and active state incentive programs. Strongest where the mandate is cost-led — sponsor-backed builds with defined EBITDA targets and stable operational functions.
Core plus node
Most frequently recommended
The core team in a Tier 1 Stable location, with a small specialist node — typically five to fifteen people — placed where that specific scarce skill actually lives. You keep the cost and retention profile without giving up access to depth.
Four points of attrition is a delivery number, not an HR number.
On a fifty-person team, the difference between 18% and 14% annual attrition is two fewer departures a year. Each departure costs a recruitment cycle, a notice period, an onboarding ramp and a knowledge transfer gap. Two fewer is eight to sixteen weeks of engineering capacity recovered — four to eight sprints — without hiring a single additional person.
Source: EY Future of Pay 2026. GCCs record the lowest attrition of any sector tracked.
Fully loaded: compensation, facilities, technology, compliance and governance. Zero added vendor margins on GCC operations.