Switzerland has been ranked at number one globally on talent competitiveness, followed by Singapore and Luxembourg in second and third places, respectively, remaining the same as in 2014, a report said.

Insead, the business school for the world, today released the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2015-16, an annual study based on research in partnership with the Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI).

This year’s theme of ‘Talent Attraction and International Mobility’ focuses on findings linked to the significant correlation between movement of talent and economic prosperity. Mobility is vital to fill skill gaps; and a high proportion of innovative, entrepreneurial people were born or studied abroad. It is hence not surprising that top ranking countries have positioned themselves as desirable destinations for high-skilled workers.

Faced with new types of migration flows, decision makers need to shape policies and strategies to address both the immediate concerns of their constituencies and the longer-term interests of their citizens.

Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2015-16 Rankings: Top Ten
1    Switzerland     
2    Singapore         
3    Luxembourg         
4    United States         
5    Denmark         
6    Sweden    
 7    United Kingdom
8    Norway    
9    Canada
10    Finland

Countries ranked in the top 10 clearly demonstrated openness in terms of talent mobility — close to 25 per cent of the respective populations of Switzerland and Luxembourg were born abroad; the proportion is even 43 per cent in Singapore.

The proportion is also significant in the United States (4), Canada (9), New Zealand (11), Austria (15), and Ireland (16). There has been little change in the top 20 since the release of the last edition of the GTCI report, with the exception of Czech Republic (20) entering this group, New Zealand improving its performance significantly, while Canada and Ireland saw modest declines.

Ilian Mihov, dean of Insead, said: “With the dynamics of global labour markets shifting rapidly, the GTCI is increasingly relevant for key influencers looking for quantitative instruments and recommendations to help boost competitiveness and bridge the labour challenges they face; even major economies such as China, Germany and Brazil will not be spared from severe labour shortfalls.”

“We are encouraged that the GTCI emphasis on the importance of vocational education has generated positive feedback across the world, and we are now seeing vocational training emerging as a cornerstone in many policy approaches. In the coming years and beyond, we look forward to continually engage our global audience in high-quality dialogue as part of our efforts to help key decision makers and influencers boost talent competitiveness and prosperity,” he added.

Bruno Lanvin, executive director of Global Indices at Insead, and co-editor of the report, commented: “One key recommendation from the report is that countries have to be more proficient at managing the emerging new dynamics of ‘brain circulation’.”

“While the temporary economic mobility of highly skilled people may initially be seen as a loss for their country of origin, countries have to understand that this translates into a net gain when they return home. The way in which Taiwan built its world-class electronics industry, through returnees from Silicon Valley, is a model that many look to emulate.

“New technologies might create new challenges for workers at different skill levels: low-skill jobs are being destroyed by automation; medium-skill jobs may be displaced by algorithms,” he added.

Through analyses and comparisons of the scores registered by individual countries, a number of patterns and similarities emerge, converging towards eight key messages relating to this year’s theme:

•    Mobility has become a key ingredient of talent development: creative talent cannot be fully developed if international mobility and ‘brain circulation’ are not encouraged.

•    The migration debate needs to move from emotions to solutions: countries will find it advantageous to address movements of people through a talent perspective.

•    Management practices make a difference in attracting talent: apart from monetary incentives and standard of living, another important differentiator in talent attraction is the professionalism of management and investment in employee development.

•    While people continue to move to jobs and opportunities, jobs are now moving to where the talent is: some countries have started to attract the attention of international investors because of creative talent at a reasonable cost: China, South Korea, Philippines and Vietnam in the Asia Pacific region; Malta, Slovenia, Cyprus and Moldova in the European region; Turkey, Jordan and Tunisia in the Mena region; and Panama in Central America.

•    New ‘talent magnets’ are emerging: While the US, Singapore and Switzerland have long been attractive to talent, competition may become fierce among emerging talent hubs such as Indonesia, Jordan, Chile, South Korea, Rwanda and Azerbaijan, as more aspire to join these increasingly attractive destinations.

•    Low-skilled workers continue to be replaced by robots, while knowledge workers are displaced by algorithms: as mobility continues to be redefined in new ways, notably through technology, knowledge workers are affected and this shift signals that entire sectors of activity may be displaced. Some people may have to work virtually for different employers from their homes, while others have to retrain and move far to obtain jobs.

•    In a world of talent circulation, cities and regions are becoming critical players in the competition for global talent: agility and branding of cities seem to be more critical differentiators than size as an increasing number of large cities adopt imaginative policies to attract global talent.

•    Scarce vocational skills continue to handicap emerging countries: gaps in vocational skills continue to exist in emerging countries such as China, India, and South Africa, and particularly in Brazil where talent capabilities show signs of weakening on all fronts. This is also true for some high-income countries such as Ireland, Belgium and Spain.  – TradeArabia News Service