In what could well be called as the logical inevitability of assiduous planning and management, the INSEAD, The Business School for the World named Switzerland and Singapore as being the leaders in their drive and quest to attract talent and maintain their competitive edge amid the whirl of technological changes and labour mobility.

The findings of the fourth edition of Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) were released in partnership with The Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI). The GTCI is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of countries to compete for talent.

The GTCI measures how countries grow, attract and retain talent, providing a resource for decision makers to develop strategies for boosting their talent competitiveness. The theme of this fourth edition of the GTCI is Talent and Technology: Shaping the Future of Work.

The 2017 report explores the effects of technological change on talent competitiveness, arguing that while jobs at all levels continue to be replaced by machines, technology is also creating new opportunities.

However, people and organisations will need to adapt to a working environment in which technology know-how, people skills, flexibility and collaboration are key to success, and in which horizontal networks are replacing hierarchies as the new leadership norm. Governments and business players need to work together to build educational systems and labour market policies that are fit for purpose.

High ranking countries share key traits, including educational systems that meet the needs of the economy, employment policies that favour flexibility, mobility and entrepreneurship, and high connectedness of stakeholders in business and government.

Commenting on these results, Ilian Mihov, Dean of INSEAD, said: “With this fourth edition, the GTCI report has clearly reached the level of international recognition we were aiming for when it was first launched. By focusing on ‘technology and talent’, this year’s report points at some of the most challenging issues that the world economy will face in the coming years, having to combine the creation of new job opportunities and sustainable growth, while offering new generations the possibility to live and work in a world that reflects the values they believe in. As the report underlines, the role of education will remain fundamental to reach this complex set of goals. This is a quest in which INSEAD intends to fully play its role as a provider of talent and leadership.”