New research sheds light on which economies are most appealing to employees
Switzerland held on to the top spot when it comes to attracting and retaining talent for the sixth consecutive year, according to a new report from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Centre.
The 2022 IMD World Talent Ranking saw Switzerland earn a perfect 100 score in the competitiveness ranking, placing first out of 63 other economies.
The rankings were based on three factors: the investment and development factor that measures the resources invested to cultivate homegrown talent; the appeal factor that assesses the extent an economy can attract foreign and local talent; and the readiness factor that measures the skills and competencies of the country's talent pool.
Switzerland had the highest scores in the appeal factor (92.50), as well as investment and development factor (100). It placed second, however, to Singapore in the readiness factor with an 83.85 score.
"At the indicator level, there are strengths across the board," the report said. "The country reaches first place in several criteria including the effective implementation of apprenticeships, attracting foreign highly skilled personnel, and the availability of finance skills and of managers with international experience."
But Switzerland could still work on sustaining the country's talent competitiveness, according to the report.
"There is, however, room for improvement which would enable the country to sustain its talent competitiveness; the quality of education as measured by pupil-teacher ratio remains relatively low, with the economy ranking 36th in the primary school indicator and 32nd in the secondary school one," the report said.
Full rankings
The rankings reflect a "fair degree of year-to-year stability among the top 10 economies," according to the report, with the six out of 10 from the previous year remaining in the same position.
The findings also showed the "talent prowess" of Nordic countries, which occupied the second to sixth places. The full top 10 include:
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Iceland
- Norway
- Denmark
- Finland
- Luxembourg
- Austria
- Netherlands
- Germany
Singapore is the highest out of Asia-Pacific countries, placing 12th with a score of 77.43. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region went down three spots to place 14th with a score of 76.32.
In the Americas, Canada climbing four slots to place the highest at 11th place with a score of 77.92, followed by the United States at 16th place with a score of 75.70.
