United States ranks ninth in global war for talent

MELVILLE, USA: The United States is falling behind Europe in producing, retaining and attracting talent, according to the first edition of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI).

The Index, which was published by INSEAD and based on research co-conducted with the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI) and in partnership with Adecco Group, highlights how vital talent is in today's competitive global economy.

The GTCI, which measures a nation's competitiveness based on the quality of talent it develops, attracts and retains through a range of output and input variables, will help countries determine and compare where they fall in the war for talent against that of other nations.

The Index, which featured 103 countries representing 86.35 per cent of the world's population and 96.7 percent of the world's GDP, found that Switzerland is leading the war for talent.

The top 10 list was heavily dominated by European nations with only two other countries-Singapore and the United States-taking a spot. Also coming in close were Canada (11th) and Norway (12th).

The top-ranked countries had many characteristics in common including a commitment to education, a history of immigration and a clear strategy on how to grow talent while attracting the best of the best from around the world.

Although most of the top countries on the Index were high-income, some upcoming talent champions like Malaysia and Estonia are showing signs of promise for the future.

As the largest of the countries in the top 10, The United States ranked 9th in the Index. Some key findings around the U.S. talent landscape included:

* The U.S. ranked 3rd globally in the Growth portion of the Index which reviewed access to formal education, the quality of top universities in a country and the number of students who enroll in a college or university; the U.S. was average in math, reading and science scores and fell short in pupil to teacher ratios.

* Within the Enablers portion, the U.S. ranked 1st in labor market flexibility, 2nd in the overall business landscape, 3rd in the ease of doing business and 4th in the overall market landscape, which looked at factors including competition and innovation.

* The U.S. was the global leader in the ratio of female professionals and technical workers to their male counterparts and was among the world leaders in the Global Knowledge portion (7th) with a high level of legislators, senior officials and managers (2nd).

* The U.S. ranked 3rd globally in productivity per employee.

* Youth employment rates could present a serious concern as the U.S. ranked 36th.

"In today's global economy, it's become increasingly clear how important talent is as a resource," said Bob Crouch, chief executive officer of Adecco Group North America.

"This Index shows that there are areas where the United States is excelling, but there is always room for improvement when it comes to attracting the best and the brightest. The public and the private sectors must work together to determine what the future workforce will need to excel through education and an understanding of the skills employers will need in the future," added Crouch.