The Philippines ranks 9th in Asia Pacific, and 54th globally, in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2018, announced today during GTCI’s Asia Launch Event at INSEAD campus in Singapore.
The Philippines is the top-ranked lower-middle-income country, coming in above three high-income countries (Trinidad and Tobago at 55th, Oman at 56th, and Kuwait at 65th) and also several upper-middle-income countries. Its greatest strength is its good pool of Global Knowledge Skills, as well as the way it provides leadership opportunities for women (#10).
Singapore retains its top position in Asia Pacific for the fifth consecutive year. Singapore (2nd globally) continues to occupy the top spot in Asia Pacific and is the leader in the Enable pillar and Attract pillar. Dimensions for which Singapore has room for improvement include Access to Growth Opportunities, Innovation output, and more Social protection for labour.
Produced in partnership with The Adecco Group and Tata Communications, the GTCI is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of 119 countries to compete for talent.
With the theme of ‘Diversity for Competitiveness’, the GTCI 2018 examines two types of diversity: cognitive (differences in knowledge, experience and perspectives) and identity (gender, race, age etc.).
The report underscores the importance of diversity for building innovative teams and to equip organisations with the ability to address the needs of markets and operations in multicultural environments. The report underlines that diversity is also an investment: people are often ill equipped to collaborate with others who are different from themselves. Leveraging diversity for competitiveness hence requires resources, commitment and leadership.
Australia and New Zealand performed remarkably well, being ranked as two of the top 15 nations in the world. Australia (11th) is one of the top countries in the Attract pillar, the result of combining good External Openness with good Internal Openness. Australia also has one of the best pools of Global Knowledge Skills.
New Zealand (12th) ranks among the top 10 in the Enable, Attract, and Global Knowledge Skills pillars. The country performs consistently well in the Enable sub-pillars: particularly the Regulatory Landscape and the Business and Labour Landscape.
Japan (20th) has a solid overall performance, although its talent competitiveness is held back by a low degree of openness—leadership opportunities for women (99th), attracting internal and external talent (54th). Japan is far less open than the top three countries of this region, where middle-income countries such as Malaysia attract more foreign talent.
Malaysia (27th) moves up one spot from last year and remains the leader in the group of upper-middle-income countries by performing particularly well in the Enable and the Vocational and Technical Skills pillars. The attraction of talent is explained in part by the country’s excellent performance in variables related to management practices and growth opportunities. Outstandingly, in terms of collaboration across organisations, Malaysia is ranked 1st in the world.
Although South Korea (30th) makes it into the top quartile of this year’s rankings, it is the lowest-ranking high-income country in the region. Despite being a top country in dimensions such as Tertiary enrolment and ICT Infrastructure, as well as an excellent Market Landscape ranking, the country has major room for improvement in the Attract pillar.
China (43rd) leads the pack amongst BRICS nations in the global talent race and has significantly improved its position by moving up 11 spots in the GTCI 2018 rankings. The country is placed in the top quartile in the Grow and Global Knowledge Skills pillars. The areas that need improvement have to do with personal rights, tolerance of both immigrants and minorities, and also variables linked to lifestyle.
India (81st) remains far from the top, even though its performance in Formal Education and Lifelong Learning are keeping pace, and its pool of Global Knowledge Skills is solid compared with other emerging markets. Where the country has plenty of room for improvement is in minimising brain drain while boosting brain gain by luring back more of its talented diaspora members.
Globally, European countries continue to dominate the GTCI rankings, with 8 of them in the top 10. Switzerland maintains its number 1 position, followed by Singapore and the United States.
