Switzerland is the best place to attract and retain talent for the fifth consecutive year, according to the latest annual ranking from IMD.
The IMD World Competitiveness Center just released its annual World Talent Ranking, as first reported by CNBC. This ranking looks at 63 global economies and ranks them based on how competitive and attractive they are to workers within the country and internationally.
The ranking is based on three different metrics: appeal, or retaining talent both within the country and from abroad; readiness, or "quality of the skills and competences" of talent; and investment and development, or "how an economy fosters domestic talent."
Each metric is based on different indicators. For instance, an economy's employee training and total public expenditure on education are two of the indicators that fall under investment and development.
Most of the economic and country data used in the ranking comes from 2019, and survey responses used for 17 of the 31 indicators are from January to April 2020, just when the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to have a major negative impact across the world. Survey questions included whether attracting and retaining talent is a priority for companies and whether higher education meets the needs for a competitive job market, among other topics.
The report notes that the most competitive countries are those that value education and appeal to international workers. "Highly competitive countries focus their talent development efforts on every stage of the educational process," IMD wrote in the report.
Several European countries placed at the top, similar to previous rankings from IMD. European countries made up 10 of the top 15 economies that foster and attract talent on this year's list. Hong Kong and Singapore were the only Asian economies to make the top 15.
Switzerland ranked number one, as it did in last year's ranking. The US didn't make the top 10 but it did rank 15th, falling three spots from last year's ranking. Several Northern European countries all made the top 15, including Denmark, which placed second.
Based on IMD's analysis of eight major world regions, Western Europe lead in investment and development and readiness, but fell slightly behind North America's appeal for talent. South America fell behind other regions in both investment and development and the readiness of talent skills and competences available.
Although the US ranked high in its appeal to talent, its readiness score was ranked 27th. Some of the indicators that brought down this rank was the share of graduates in science fields where it ranked 51st, and it also ranked 32nd for primary and secondary education meets the needs of a competitive economy.
The following are the 15 countries that made the top of 2020 World Talent Ranking list, along with where they placed last year. Three countries in the top 15 saw no change from last year, and 11 of the 63 saw no change.
Read the full report at IMD here.
15. United States
2019 ranking: 12
Change from 2019-2020: Down 3
Investment and development rank: 17
Appeal rank: 2
Readiness rank: 27
The US had the second-highest rank for its appeal to foreign highly-skilled personnel. However, one of its lowest indicators was for apprenticeships being sufficiently implemented, where it ranked 54th.
14. Hong Kong SAR
2019 ranking: 15
Change from 2019-2020: Up 1
Investment and development rank: 23
Appeal rank: 18
Readiness rank: 2
Hong Kong SAR ranked at the top for the availability of finance skills in the country. However, total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was one of its lowest indicators, where it ranked 53rd.
13. Australia
2019 ranking: 16
Change from 2019-2020: Up 3
Investment and development rank: 18
Appeal rank: 16
Readiness rank: 4
Australia's availability of finance skills ranked sixth, and the country had a high quality of life score. However, one of its lowest indicators was for its implementation of apprenticeships, where it ranked 50th.
12. Finland
2019 ranking: 8
Change from 2019-2020: Down 4
Investment and development rank: 12
Appeal rank: 15
Readiness rank: 10
One of Finland's highest indicators were its higher education programs meeting the needs of a competitive economy, where it ranked fourth this year. However, one of its lower indicators was its labor force growth where it ranked 44th.
11. Germany
2019 ranking: 11
Change from 2019-2020: No change
Investment and development rank: 11
Appeal rank: 9
Readiness rank: 13
One of Germany's highest indicators was its implementation of apprenticeships, where it ranked second this year. However, one of its lower indicators was having a skilled labor force readily available, where it ranked 44th.
10. Netherlands
2019 ranking: 9
Change from 2019-2020: Down 1
Investment and development rank: 16
Appeal rank: 7
Readiness rank: 8
One of the Netherlands' highest indicators was that companies make retaining and attracting talent a priority, where it ranked fifth this year. However, one of its lowest indicators was its cost of living where it ranked 40th.
9. Singapore
2019 ranking: 10
Change from 2019-2020: Up 1
Investment and development rank: 21
Appeal rank: 22
Readiness rank: 1
Singapore's skilled labor ranked third under the readiness metric. However, total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was one of its lowest indicators, where it ranked 61st.
8. Canada
2019 ranking: 13
Change from 2019-2020: Up 5
Investment and development rank: 19
Appeal rank: 3
Readiness rank: 7
Canada's skilled labor ranked fifth under the readiness metric. However, its student-teacher ratios for both primary and secondary schools had lower scores, ranking 40th and 43rd respectively.
7. Norway
2019 ranking: 6
Change from 2019-2020: Down 1
Investment and development rank: 5
Appeal rank: 10
Readiness rank: 20
Norway's management education ranked ninth under the readiness metric. However, its cost of living was one of its lowest indicators, where it ranked at 41.
6. Austria
2019 ranking: 4
Change from 2019-2020: Down 2
Investment and development rank: 6
Appeal rank: 11
Readiness rank: 12
Companies' priority of employee training ranked second for Austria. However, its cost of living and labor force growth had lower scores, at 43 and 39 respectively.
5. Sweden
2019 ranking: 3
Change from 2019-2020: Down 2
Investment and development rank: 7
Appeal rank: 4
Readiness rank: 11
Sweden's total public expenditure on education as a percentage of the GDP was one of its higher indicators, where it ranked fifth. However, its apprenticeships indicator placed 43rd.
4. Iceland
2019 ranking: 7
Change from 2019-2020: Up 3
Investment and development rank: 4
Appeal rank: 6
Readiness rank: 16
Iceland's total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was one of its higher indicators, where it ranked second. However, its appeal to foreign highly-skilled personnel only ranked 41st.
3. Luxembourg
2019 ranking: 5
Change from 2019-2020: Up 2
Investment and development rank: 3
Appeal rank: 5
Readiness rank: 19
Luxembourg's appeal to foreign highly-skilled personnel was one of its higher indicators, where it ranked fourth. The country also had the highest labor force growth in the study. However, it had one of the lower share of graduates in the science field, where it ranked 52nd.
2. Denmark
2019 ranking: 2
Change from 2019-2020: No change
Investment and development rank: 2
Appeal rank: 8
Readiness rank: 6
Denmark ranked at the top for companies prioritizing employee training under the investment and development metric. However, its cost of living ranked 53rd, making it one of the country's lower indicators.
1. Switzerland
2019 ranking: 1
Change from 2019-2020: No change
Investment and development rank: 1
Appeal rank: 1
Readiness rank: 5
Switzerland ranked at the top for its apprenticeships under the investment and development metric. However, its cost of living ranked 58th, one of the country's lower indicators.