Smart GCCs, Strong Brands: Using workforce analytics to build future-ready talent pipelines

By Syed Kaleem Raza, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Orion Innovation
In today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, the role of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) has evolved beyond their traditional roles of operational support, cost-effective technology development, and talent utilization. They are becoming a hub for innovation, research, and talent development. As businesses aim to scale sustainably, grow into existing markets, explore new opportunities, and meet complex global demands, the synergy between smart GCCs and workforce analytics is emerging as a key driver of competitive advantage.

Orion Innovation with its rapidly expanding GCC footprint across major Indian cities— Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune —stands at the forefront of this transformation. These centers are not only integral to delivering cutting-edge tech services across the globe but also serve as strategic anchors for building future-ready talent pipelines.

The workforce is the cornerstone of business success for GCCs, fundamentally shaping their operational effectiveness, innovation capacity, and strategic value to parent organizations. As a strategic asset and a business enabler, it has a direct business impact on cost efficiency, innovation, agility, and long-term value creation for global enterprises.

The Evolution of India’s GCC Landscape

India now commands approximately 50% – 60% of the global GCC market, hosting about 1,700–1,950 centers and employing around 1.9 million professionals. GCCs have transitioned from focusing on operational efficiency to delivering core business value. They are hubs for research, product development, AI innovation, cybersecurity, and business strategy.

At Orion, the GCC network acts as a strategic engine for innovation, enabling real-time collaboration across global teams and geographies. By combining operational excellence with deep tech expertise, these centers support a wide spectrum of services from data and analytics to Gen AI, Cloud, cybersecurity, Experience Design, Enterprise Platforms, and focused industry solutions.

Workforce Analytics: The Talent Game Changer

Workforce analytics involves collecting and analysing employee-related data to make more informed talent decisions.  By leveraging AI and data-driven insights across the talent lifecycle—from hiring to leadership planning—organizations are transforming how they attract, retain, and develop top talent.

The Talent Management Supply Chain function uses workforce analytics and optimizes data to support strategic decisions across the talent lifecycle.

Here’s how workforce analytics is redefining the talent game:

• Faster, Smarter Hiring – AI-powered screening tools have slashed time-to-hire from 4–5 weeks to just 7 days. With up to 98% accuracy in candidate fitment, GCCs are building teams faster and enhancing hiring effectiveness.
• Proactive Retention Strategies – By analyzing sentiment and performance data, organizations can pinpoint attrition risks early and take action with personalized engagement and upskilling programs—driving higher retention and morale.
• Strategic Workforce Planning – Predictive analytics supports smarter leadership and cost planning. For example, one global F&B company halved its setup time for a new India center—from 18 months to 8—by aligning talent strategy with data-driven foresight.

From optimizing recruitment channels to mapping learning pathways and identifying future leaders, workforce analytics is not just a tool—it’s a competitive edge in the evolving world of work.

How Workforce Analytics Powers Talent Transformation at Orion

At Orion, workforce analytics is a core enabler of strategic talent management. By visualizing skills availability, project demands, and market trends, we proactively anticipate talent needs, well before they become critical. This results in increased agility, reduced attrition, and stronger alignment with evolving business goals.

 

Orion leverages workforce analytics to:

• Map skill demand across projects, functions, and geographies
• Identify high-potential employees for targeted upskilling and leadership roles
• Predict attrition risks and deploy timely retention strategies
• Design personalized learning pathways aligned with emerging technologies

 

Orion’s Integrated Workforce Analytics Framework:

• Recruitment & Onboarding: AI-driven candidate screening and optimized onboarding to enhance time-to-hire and new hire experience
• Reskilling & Upskilling: Data-led identification of skill gaps and continuous learning aligned to future-readiness
• Succession Planning: Recognizing and developing future leaders with predictive talent insights
• Employee Well-being: Tracking and improving holistic well-being to sustain engagement and productivity

By embedding analytics across the talent lifecycle, Orion ensures every talent decision is timely, data-informed, and aligned to business impact. Workforce analytics helped in building capability and capacity at entry and mid-level, where internal fulfilment of roles moved up from 20% to 42%. This was done through internal training and assessment.

A People-Centric Culture, Powered by Data

At Orion, data drives decisions—but people drive impact. While workforce analytics powers talent strategies, it is our people-first culture that truly sustains them. Investing in employee growth, inclusion, and well-being is as critical as investing in technology.

Through sentiment analysis, pulse surveys, and performance insights, Orion tailors experiences to evolving employee expectations. Whether it’s flexible work models, inclusive learning pathways, or mental health initiatives, data helps make every policy more personalized, meaningful, and measurable.

Workforce analytics at Orion is not about surveillance—it’s about empowerment. It enables transparency, aligns capability development with career goals, and fosters a workplace where employees thrive with purpose.

Responsible AI and Ethical Workforce Practices

As workforce analytics converges with AI, ethics and transparency take center stage. Orion is deeply committed to responsible AI, embedding fairness, inclusivity, and data privacy into every workforce-related algorithm and platform.

Key initiatives include:

• Bias Detection in Hiring Models: Orion has developed machine learning models to support entry to mid-level hiring, where volume is highest. These models are rigorously tested for bias across gender, ethnicity, age, and other protected attributes using fairness indicators like demographic parity and equal opportunity.
• Transparent Candidate Communication: Applicants are informed about AI usage in the hiring process and can request insights into decision-making.
• Human-in-the-Loop: While AI provides recommendations, all final hiring decisions are made by trained recruiters, ensuring context, fairness, and empathy remain central.
• Governance Framework: Orion adheres to strict internal AI governance protocols to audit, retrain, and refine models for continuous improvement in fairness and performance.

 

The Road Ahead: Building a Future-Ready Workforce

Orion is strategically expanding its GCC footprint beyond metro cities into Tier 2 locations across India, unlocking new talent pools, improving retention, and delivering cost advantages. These centers are evolving from cost-arbitrage hubs to innovation and strategy powerhouses.

Future initiatives include:

• Scaling ethical AI adoption across the entire talent lifecycle
• Launching leadership and DEI accelerators to nurture diverse talent
• Investing in next-gen skilling aligned to GenAI, cloud, and cybersecurity

As global enterprises face continuous disruption, workforce analytics will be the differentiator, and Orion is poised to lead, with a people-centric, data-driven, and ethically grounded talent strategy.