The Asian Nation Sits Among the Elite European States for Being a Competitive Place for Talent
Reaching the top ten of a world ranking is no joke for an Asian nation. But it seems that Singapore has proven it is possible. The IMD World Talent has ranked Singapore to be among the top ten most competitive place for talent. European states dominate the 2019 IMD World Talent list, yet with Singapore in it, it says a lot about the Asian perseverance. This is also the first time the Republic made it to the top ten.
Talent Competitive Assessment
Each country is assessed on how their economy invests and develop talent, how it attracts and retain talent as well as talent readiness. Investing and developing talent consists of public spending on education, student to teacher ratio as well as available health infrastructure. Attracting and retaining talent falls under the appeal factor, which accounts for costs of living, worker motivation and quality of life. Talent readiness is assessed by an economy’s capability to nurture skills that match the needs of the economy. The data used for this report is based on historical data and surveys from thousands of executives.
Rising Up
Singapore scored high in talent readiness. This has led Singapore to rise the overall rank to number ten, taking the place of Germany. The report states that Singapore ranks first place in talent readiness. Such high scores are possible as Singapore has a large percentage of science graduates that scores well in Pisa. Pisa is the acronym for Programme for International Student Assessment which measures how well students use their knowledge to solve real-world problems.
Lack of Appeal
Despite being among the wealthiest countries in the world, Singapore lacks the appeal to retain local professional talent. Singapore’s appeal score was higher in the previous year. The ratings in 2019 dropped as highlighted in the report, mainly because of the cost of living, effective personal income tax rates and exposure to particle pollution. These are among the areas that could do with further improvements. Then again, according to the report, Singapore attracts quite many highly skilled foreign personnel, thanks to the country’s pro-business environment.
Different Country Different Approach
Every country takes a different approach to develop and retain their talent. There is no one size fits all approach that can be applied to each economy. If there is such a thing, it will be unfair as specific competencies may not be assessed. Some countries could reach a better balance in developing local talents and their attraction for highly skilled foreign personnel than other countries. Some other economies are merely attractive to overseas, highly experienced professionals, which works for their respective countries.
Conclusion
The island nation has always persevered to be the best in every aspect, if possible. Singapore is the only Asian country listed in the top ten of the 2019 IMD World Talent report. It scores high and ranks first in talent readiness which measures readily available skills and competencies in the current local talent pool.
