What It Really Takesto Set Up a GCC or GBS Centre in Malaysia

A multinational client had flown in to evaluate Malaysia for a new global hub. They had already visited two other countries. Malaysia was the final stop, and they were polite but sceptical.

Over coffee, their Head of IT Support asked the question I have heard from almost every foreign leadership team: “The costs look good on paper. But does Malaysia actually have the people we need, and how fast can we build a real team here?”

This delegation is a composite of several I have hosted, but that question is the same every time. After years of working with foreign companies, government agencies and government-linked companies across the India–Malaysia–ASEAN corridor, I have learned that it is never really about recruitment alone. A company doesn’t choose Malaysia because of one good CV. It chooses Malaysia when every part of the setup — talent, location, political stability, government support, funding and skills — comes together into a plan it can trust.

This is the story of how we build that plan.

I don’t answer with a sales pitch. I answer with numbers.

Malaysia’s labour force reached 17.09 million people in 2025. The Ministry of Higher Education’s 2025 Graduate Tracer Study counted 17,043 new graduates in Information and Communication Technologies and 57,680 in Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction. That is nearly 75,000 technology and engineering graduates in a single year, with employment rates above 92%. For the finance and HR side of a GBS centre, there were another 64,045 graduates in Business, Administration and Law.

Then I tell them what the brochures often leave out. The talent pool is deep for software development, service desk, IT support and finance operations. But specialist roles are highly competitive, and the tightest market of all is data centre talent. Malaysia has become one of the region’s fastest-growing data centre markets, and hyperscalers, colocation operators and their partners are all competing for the same infrastructure engineers, critical facilities technicians, maintenance specialists and OT cybersecurity professionals.

That honesty changed the conversation. We stopped talking about whether Malaysia could work and started talking about how.

Many companies treat office space as a property decision. I treat it as a hiring decision, because the location you choose decides who will apply.

For multinationals, I usually recommend Kuala Lumpur city centre and the Golden Triangle. These areas offer Grade A buildings, strong public transport links that widen the commuting pool, and an address that helps attract experienced professionals. Through Tech Talent, I work with a trusted property partner who engages directly with other agents and building management teams, so the delegation sees suitable options quickly rather than spending weeks on viewings.

We compare each shortlisted building against the delegation’s real needs: commute times for staff, room to grow from the first 20 people to the full team, security standards for handling sensitive data, sustainability built into the structure of the building, and flexible move-in space for the first year while the permanent office is fitted out.

On day two, we visit campuses.

Malaysia’s public and private universities, together with international branch campuses such as Monash and Nottingham, and universities such as APU, Universiti Malaya and Multimedia University, produce graduates with the technical and business skills that global hubs need. We don’t go to collect CVs. We go to start partnerships: internship programmes, final-year projects built around the company’s real problems, and guest lectures by their senior leaders to create visibility and early access to top students.

With graduate employment rates above 92%, the best students are often hired before they finish their studies. A company that shows up on campus in its first month gets first choice. One that shows up in year two gets whoever is left.

On day three, we meet the government.

Because of my long work with government agencies and government-linked companies, I was able to arrange meetings with the right people at MIDA (the Malaysian Investment Development Authority), MDEC (the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) and TalentCorp. The delegation comes away with more than slides. They get clear answers on incentives, approvals, talent programmes and the support available for a new hub.

These meetings also cover an important change. From 1 June 2026, Malaysia raised its Employment Pass salary thresholds: Category I now requires RM20,000 and above, Category II RM10,000 to RM19,999, and Category III RM5,000 to RM9,999. EP II and EP III holders now need a succession plan. Many delegations arrive planning to bring in expatriates first and localise later, so we rebuild that plan together: a small number of expatriate leaders, a strong local team from day one, and a documented handover plan. MDEC and MIDA also have access to the network of hubs already operating in the Klang Valley, so the delegation can hear the real challenges and practical advice from companies that have already set up in Malaysia.

A new hub is a large investment, and leaving grants and incentives unclaimed is money wasted.

Every client’s needs are different, so we identify the programmes that fit their plans, whether that is MIDA investment incentives, MDEC digital economy incentives, TalentCorp talent programmes or HRD Corp training grants. We map each one to a stage of the setup, so the delegation knows what to apply for, when, and which conditions they will need to meet, such as local hiring commitments or training spend.

Even with a strong talent pool, no new team arrives fully ready. Every hub has its own systems, security standards and ways of working.

That is why we bring in training partners before the first hire starts. Together we design onboarding, certification and cross-training programmes around the hub’s technology and processes. Where possible, these programmes are structured to qualify for available training grants, which lowers the cost of upskilling.

Then comes the part that decides whether a hub succeeds: the people.

Through Tech Talent, our JTKSM-licensed recruitment agency (Agensi Pekerjaan Tech Talent, JTKSM 1304), we plan every stage of resourcing.

Every candidate Tech Talent presents is scored against a structured, role-specific rubric using OPAL, the AI screening platform, and our recruiters make the final judgement. The result is fewer CVs, and better ones.

By the end of the week, the delegation leaves with more than impressions. They have a shortlist of buildings, university contacts, a clear view of incentives and approvals, a training plan and a staged hiring roadmap with realistic timelines for every role, including the hard-to-fill specialists.

Before you commit to a location, a budget or a partner, you need to know whether the roles you have in mind exist in Malaysia and what they will really cost.

Send us up to three job descriptions for your GCC or GBS centre. Within 48 hours you will receive, free of charge:

If it helps, we can also arrange an introductory conversation on office space, university partnerships, government agencies and incentives through Oxydata and our wider network.

There is no obligation. If Malaysia isn’t right for a particular role, we’ll tell you.

Send your JDs.

Datin Malliga is Senior Partner at Oxydata Software and leads Tech Talent’s work with foreign companies building technology teams in Malaysia. She is the Founding President of the India ASEAN Tech Association (IATA) and has spent her career building businesses and ecosystems across the India–Malaysia–ASEAN corridor, working closely with government agencies and government-linked companies.

Ministry of Higher Education, Statistik Pendidikan Tinggi 2025 (Graduate Tracer Study); Department of Statistics Malaysia, labour force statistics 2025; Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration Department (Expatriate Services Division) Employment Pass announcements, 2026.