Singapore—It’s been a good year for talent in Singapore, as the Little Red Dot enters the top 10 list of the most competitive places for talent, as ranked by IMD, a world-renowned business school in Switzerland.
IMD recently released its top 10 list for 2019, with Singapore having the triple distinction of making the top 10 list for the first time, rising three places and relegating Germany to eleventh place. Singapore is now the only country in Asia in the top 10.
The next nearest Asian country on the list is Hong Kong SAR, which took the 15th spot, followed by Taiwan, in 20th place.
For the 2019 rankings, Singapore bested even the United States, in 12th place; Canada, in 13th place; and Australia, in 16th place.
The first nine spots on the top 10 list all went to European countries, headed by Switzerland, Denmark, and Sweden, taking the top three places, respectively, with Sweden making a surprise leap of five spots from last year’s ranking.
Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and the Netherlands ranked 4th through 9th on the top 10, respectively.
The list that IMD puts out is based on a study of 63 economies from around the globe and assesses the level at which each one develops, attracts and retains professionals who are highly skilled.
“Cultivating, attracting and retaining a skilled workforce is crucial to strengthen competitiveness and achieve long-term prosperity, particularly in the current dynamic landscape where artificial intelligence, robotics, and other new technologies constantly redefine the challenges that governments, businesses and society, in general, will have to face in the future,” the study says.
Moreover, each economy is assessed according to three categories—investment and development, appeal, and readiness. “The three categories assess how countries perform in a wide range of areas. These include education, apprenticeships, workplace training, language skills, cost of living, quality of life, remuneration and tax rates.”
In the category of “readiness,” which measures how available skills and competencies such as international experience and skills in language are, Singapore is ranked number 1, Business Insider reports.
Singapore received a score of 96.85 in the area of readiness, far higher than number-one ranked Switzerland, which got a score of 85.34 for ‘readiness.’
IMD noted that Singapore scored very well in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) an International test for measuring how well students can solve problems with the use of their knowledge.
Singapore’s secondary and primary education also scored high.
For the ‘appeal’ factor, Singapore ranked at number 20th, and for ‘investment and development,’ the country placed 25th, with its scores brought low for reasons such as the lower percentage of women in the workforce as well as the city’s pollution levels.
According to Professor Arturo Bris, the Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, “Most leading economies emphasize long-term talent development by focusing on investment and development. This emphasis, however, goes beyond purely academic aspects to encompass the effective implementation of apprenticeships and employee training. Such an approach ensures a consistent alignment between talent demand and supply.” -/TISG
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