RTX plans to increase its workforce in India by 14% over the next three years, according to executives
U.S. aerospace and defense giant RTX Corp plans to expand its workforce in India by hiring an additional 1,000 employees, bringing its Indian headcount to 8,000 by 2027. The company aims to recruit more engineers and data scientists to support its global operations, senior executives told Reuters.
The new positions will be spread across RTX’s divisions, including approximately 300 engineers for Pratt & Whitney, the aircraft engine manufacturer, over the next 12-18 months, and 700 for aerospace supplier Collins Aerospace over the next three years. Major global aerospace and defense companies like Airbus, Rolls-Royce, and Lockheed Martin also operate technology and engineering centers in India, known as global capability centers (GCCs), which support operations, research, and development.
“For us, India is not just a low-cost destination; it’s a talent hub,” said Savyasachi Srinivas, Vice President of Engineering at Collins Aerospace. “We have around 150 global roles with teams based in India. Our biggest export is our talent.”
Collins Aerospace, which manufactures products such as evacuation slides, cabin seats, and avionics sensors primarily for export, plans to expand its operations in India. The company is set to consolidate three of its manufacturing sites and move to a larger facility in Bengaluru by 2026, Srinivas added.
According to a report by IT industry body Nasscom and consulting firm Zinnov, the market for GCCs in India is expected to grow from $64.6 billion in fiscal 2024 to between $99 billion and $105 billion by fiscal 2030.
Jayant Mukherjee, head of Asia-Pacific and India Digital Capability Center at Pratt & Whitney, explained that the company’s center in India plays a key role in driving global digital transformation, data analytics, and the development of small and large language models (SLMs and LLMs) for improved maintenance and inspections.
In line with global trends, Pratt & Whitney’s Bengaluru center plans to reduce its reliance on outsourcing firms and bring more technology work in-house to better retain talent and safeguard intellectual property. “We can’t eliminate outsourcing entirely,” Mukherjee noted, but he aims to increase in-house technology work to 55% over the next three years, up from about one-third currently.
