Switzerland has retained its title as the world’s top talent hub as Europe leads the way in fostering the best conditions for competitiveness in a skills-scarce global economy, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Centre.
The IMD World Talent Ranking 2019 report, which scores countries across three factors of investment and development, readiness and appeal, placed Denmark in second and Sweden in third.
The rest of the Top 10 — dominated by small and mid-sized European countries — includes Austria (4th), Luxembourg (5th), Norway (6th), Iceland (7th), Finland (8th), the Netherlands (9th) and Singapore (10th).
Outside the top 10, the biggest climbers were Taiwan, China (20th), Lithuania (28th), Philippines (49th) and Colombia (54th).
Switzerland leads the world in the “appeal” factor and in areas such as apprenticeships, health infrastructure, remuneration, attracting highly-skilled foreign workers, and university and management education.
Singapore — the only non-European nation in the Top 10 — scores highest globally for talent “readiness.”
“Most leading economies emphasise long-term talent development by focusing on investment and development,” said Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre.
“This emphasis, however, goes beyond purely academic aspects to encompass the effective implementation of apprenticeships and employee training,” said Bris. “Such an approach ensures a consistent alignment between talent demand and supply.”
In Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan (China) lead in terms of talent competitiveness due to the readiness of their talent pool. Singapore jumped from 13th to 10th position compared to last year while China ranked in the lower half of the index
In the Pacific region, Australia (16th) and New Zealand (17th) confirmed their status as talent-attracting hubs. Both countries show high levels of readiness in their talent pool and offer an attractive quality of life for international professionals.
