IMD Unveils World Talent Ranking of Countries

 IMD, a top-ranked global business school, has released its first annual World Talent Report. The report introduces the IMD World Talent Ranking based on the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook. The report assesses a country’s ability to develop, attract, and retain talent for companies based on three factors:

• Investment and development in local talent, reflecting investment in education.
• Appeal, reflecting ability to retain home-grown talent and attract overseas talent.
• Readiness, reflecting a country’s ability to fulfill market demands with its talent pool.

“The top countries have a balanced approach to the three factors,” said Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

The ranking is based on over 20 indicators, some statistical and others drawn from an IMD survey of 4,300 international executives.

The ranking is led by Switzerland (1), Denmark (2), Germany (3), Finland (4) and Malaysia (5). The US comes in 12th. At the bottom are Venezuela (59) and Bulgaria (60).

Additional highlights from the report include:

• In investment and development, Denmark leads ahead of Switzerland (2) and Austria (3).
• Switzerland leads in appeal, followed by Germany (2), and the US (3).
• Switzerland is highest-rated for readiness, ahead of Finland (2) and the Netherlands (3).

Based on data from 2005 to 2014, the report identifies the most talent-competitive countries. Canada, Denmark and Switzerland are the only countries ranked in the top 10 every year. Sweden has been in the top 10 since 2007. Singapore reached the top 10 in six of the ten years.