Each year the Global Talent Competitiveness Index attempts to chronicle the success (or otherwise) of nations in providing a fertile environment for the generation and recruitment of the brightest talents in the world. The 2019 report, which was published recently, reveals Switzerland, Singapore and the United States at the head of affairs in providing the best environment for talent to thrive.
The 2019 edition focuses primarily on entrepreneurial talent, both in the sense of creating people able to innovate both within companies and via startups, and also to futureproof their skills against the various changes inflicting society. The paper suggests, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the best performing cities and countries tend to be those most open to entrepreneurial talent, and that digital technologies are making this group even more important to society.
Interestingly, the report goes on to suggest that cities are playing a much bigger role than countries in attracting and developing talent. The authors suggest this is largely because cities can be so much more flexible in adapting to different trends than countries can. The report regarded Washington DC as the best city for achieving this, closely followed by Copenhagen, Oslo, Vienna and Zurich. Washington came out on top because it performed particularly strongly in growing, attracting and enabling talent, whilst also being open to talent from around the world.
The report, which has been produced each year since 2013, also attempted to look back over previous editions to see if any trends emerged. The most evident trend is that the gap between those who ‘get it’, and those who don’t has been growing. Being competitive on talent is helping the best cities and the best countries pull away from the laggards at a growing pace.
“In the top ten of talent competitiveness ranking, only two non-European countries can be seen: Singapore and the USA. This underlines that Europe remains a talent powerhouse, but also that countries with great universities and a strong education sector are best at attracting talents. Because high-level talents are also more mobile internationally, no comparative advantage can be seen as irreversible, and those countries will need to remain open and innovative to keep their leadership,” the authors say.
2019 Top 20 rankings – countries
In this sixth edition, Switzerland continues to lead the 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness index, while Singapore and the United States come in second and third respectively as they did in 2018. The top three is followed by Scandinavian countries, Norway (4th), Denmark (5th), Finland (6th), and Sweden (7th). Yemen has finished at the bottom of this year’s index at 125th, just below Congo (124th) and Burundi (123rd).
As in previous years, higher rankings are associated with higher income levels. Policies and practices that bring about talent competitiveness in more developed countries are less susceptible to political and socioeconomic fluctuations. High-income economies have the stability to invest in lifelong learning, reinforcing skills, and attracting and retaining global talent.
OVERALL RANK COUNTRY SCORE
1. Switzerland 81.82
2. Singapore 77.27
3. United States of 76.64
America
4. Norway 74.67
5. Denmark 73.85
6. Finland 73.78
7. Sweden 73.53
8. Netherlands 73.02
9. United Kingdom 71.44
10. Luxembourg 71.18
11. New Zealand 71.12
12. Australia 71.08
13. Iceland 71.03
14. Germany 70.72
15. Canada 70.43
16. Ireland 70.15
17. Belgium 68.48
18. Austria 68.31
19. United Arab Emirates 65.90
20. Israel 63.26
2019 Top 10 Ranking – cities
The leading cities are best at performing well across the five pillars of the talent spectrum. The top-ranked city – Washington, DC – exemplifies this, being a top 10 city in three of five dimensions. The increasingly central roles of cities as entrepreneurial talent hubs also underline the importance of developing strong and vibrant ecosystems, especially around innovation.
OVERALL RANK CITY SCORE
Washington, DC (United
1. States) 69.2
2. Copenhagen (Denmark) 68.0
3. Oslo (Norway) 66.1
4. Vienna (Austria) 65.7
5. Zurich (Switzerland) 65.5
6. Boston (United States) 65.4
7. Helsinki (Finland) 65.0
8. New York (United States) 64.6
9. Paris (France) 63.5
10. Seoul (Korea, Rep.) 62.7
