Top 10 Most Useful Country Stats For International Recruiters (Part 2)

 In the first part of this article we identified that globalization, domestic talent shortages, and the threat and potential of emerging economies are driving employers not only to hire more and more staff for international assignments, but to source talent from all over the world. Recruiters from both multinationals and ambitious small employers will need to be constantly developing their skills in international recruitment if they are to compete effectively in the international talent war.

As a result, international recruiters must have insight into the relevant international trends, which can both inform and enhance their hiring strategy. In part 1 of this article we outlined the top five most useful country stats for international recruiters, and below you can find the next five:

1.World’s fastest and slowest rising salaries by country.When advising your business or managers on where to source international talent for the best price, it makes sense to start with the countries reporting the lowest starting salaries. However, how can you be sure that a country with competitive salaries today won’t experience hyper salary inflation and actually have relatively high salaries in two, five or even 10 years time? To help keep a track of pay rises by country, I’d recommend that you monitor the annual Culpepper Salary Budget & Compensation Planning Survey, which reports on salary data for over 100 countries. It seems to be the best free survey of its kind.

2. Highest and lowest risk destinations.Another survey and set of statistics is the People Risk Index by Aon. It assesses 138 global destinations in terms of the risk; that is, the barriers that may be in place preventing you from effectively hiring talent.

3. The most expensive cities for expats.There are many surveys that talk about how expensive or economical a destination is, but many of them don’t distinguish between locals and expats. It’s important to be aware of this distinction, as countries that can be quite economical for locals can actually be especially expensive for expats. This is why it is important to review surveys that show the most and least expensive cities for expats when planning your international hiring initiative. The best survey I have found for this is the 2013 Cost of Living Rankings survey for mercer, which charts the costliest cities for expats.

4. Most in demand skills over the next five years by global location.International Recruiters also need to be able to put on their strategic hat and understand projected supply and demand for talent in various global destinations. One survey that provides some good data on future demand for talent is the Global Talent 2021 survey by Oxford Economics, which looks at the future supply and demand for talent in specified global regions across nine sectors. It shows forecast talent deficits and surpluses by location.

5. Most innovative locations.And last but not least, the most innovative locations. This is another great stat for international recruiters looking to hire innovative talent or looking to advise their business on where best to expand to ensure their innovative and creative business is welcomed. The Insead-Wipo-Cornell University has just completed its ranking of 142 countries on their innovation capabilities based on the number of patents granted.