The 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) report reveals that Switzerland, Singapore and the United States continue to lead the world in talent competitiveness, while countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa are seeing a progressive erosion of their talent base. The report confirms that talent issues have become a mainstream concern for firms, nations and cities, with talent performance seen as a critical factor to growth and prosperity.

This year’s report has a special focus on entrepreneurial talent - how it is being encouraged, nurtured and developed throughout the world and how this affects the relative competitiveness of different economies. New approaches are emerging to stimulate entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial talent and futureproof employees – for example, the efforts to develop bottom up innovation and empower employees. Such progress is especially true in the cities, where ‘Smart cities’ ecosystems are increasingly acting as talent magnets. The results further show:

• The highest-ranking countries and cities tend to be the most open to entrepreneurial talent;
• Digitalisation and globalisation are increasing the role of entrepreneurial talent.

In GTCI 2019, Luxembourg is ranked 10 out of a sample of 125 countries and is a top 10 country in three pillars : Attract, Retain, and Global Knowledge (GK) Skills.

As a small country that has built an international reputation as a centre of finance and industry, it is one of the leading countries in the world with respect to both Talent Impact and New product entrepreneurial activity.

Luxembourg reaches the 1st place internationally in 5 variables: ICT Infrastructure, International students, Pension System, Professionals, New product entrepreneurial activity. Luxembourg excels as well at retaining its domestic talent (8th in this pillar). It also has a competitive pool of Global Knowledge Skills (9th) that rests on it being a highly innovative and entrepreneurial country.

Luxembourg’s weakest performance concerns its pool of Vocational and Technical (VT) Skills, which is dampened by a sub-par ability to match labour market demand and workforce supply.

The longer view

For the first time, the 2019 GTCI provides a longitudinal analysis of talent competitiveness based on the results of all GTCI editions since 2013. The main finding is that the gap separating the talent champions from the rest of the global community has been growing. Talent competitiveness is strengthening in groups of countries where it is already comparatively high and weakening in those where it is relatively low.

Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director, Global Indices, INSEAD, and co-editor of the report, commented: “In the top ten of talent competitiveness ranking, only two non-European countries can be seen: Singapore and the USA. This underlines that Europe remains a talent powerhouse, but also that countries with great universities and a strong education sector are best at attracting talents. Because high-level talents are also more mobile internationally, no comparative advantage can be seen as irreversible, and those countries will need to remain open and innovative to keep their leadership.”

Alain Dehaze, Chief Executive Officer, the Adecco Group said: “As the world of work rapidly changes, there is a danger that if countries and cities do not have the right conditions for attracting talent, people and businesses will move away and look for opportunities elsewhere. The results of this year’s GTCI report are further evidence of how entrepreneurial talent is being increasingly seen as one way of successfully navigating a world in constant flux. Nurturing it is a vital part of creating the right environment for talent to flourish and to lay the seeds for success in the future.”

The 2019 GTCI report, published today by INSEAD, the Business School for the World, in partnership with the Adecco Group and Tata Communications, is a comprehensive annual benchmarking measuring how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent, providing a unique resource for decision makers to understand the global talent competitiveness picture and develop strategies for boosting their competitiveness.

The report measures levels of Global Talent Competitiveness by looking at 68 variables. The 2019 index covers 125 national economies and 114 cities (respectively 119 and 90 in 2018) across all groups of income and levels of development.

2019 Top 20 rankings – countries

In this sixth edition, Switzerland continues to lead the 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness index, while Singapore and the United States come in second and third respectively as they did in 2018. The top three is followed by Scandinavian countries, Norway (4th), Denmark (5th), Finland (6th), and Sweden (7th). Yemen has finished at the bottom of this year’s index at 125th, just below Congo (124th) and Burundi (123rd).

As in previous years, higher rankings are associated with higher income levels. Policies and practices that bring about talent competitiveness in more developed countries are less susceptible to political and socioeconomic fluctuations. High-income economies have the stability to invest in lifelong learning, reinforcing skills, and attracting and retaining global talent.