Competing for scarce GCC skills on pay (and more)
Compensation surveys lag the market for hot skills. AI platform, staff engineering, product, and cyber roles in Bengaluru and peer metros move fast. If your band was set from a two-year-old shared-services chart, you will lose.
What usually works
- Role-based bands, not one India average
- Clear variable pay tied to outcomes you can explain
- Retention tools for critical seats (not spray-and-pray bonuses)
- Honesty about leveling so candidates are not shocked at offer stage
What usually fails
- “We do not pay startup rates” with a startup-hard charter
- Counteroffers as your only retention system
- Title inflation that breaks internal equity later
30 / 60 / 90
- 30: Market check for your top ten roles in the chosen city.
- 60: Band updates approved by finance and HQ sponsors.
- 90: Offers out with a close plan for scarce seats.
Takeaway
Pay is not the whole story. It is the ticket to the conversation.
Miss the ticket and your branding deck never gets read.