Which Countries are the Best at Attracting Talent?

Switzerland once again clinched the top spot in a global survey on fostering and attracting talent, in a top 10 list that includes Canada but not the United States.

The country retained its title for the fifth consecutive year on the World Talent Ranking report published by IMD Business School, a result of its strong emphasis on skills training and education. Denmark and Norway were ranked second and third respectively in the poll, which was dominated by European countries.

The United States didn’t crack the top 10, but it did climb four places to rank 12th. The U.K. slid two spots to 23. Canada was the only non-European country to feature among the top 10.

The IMD World Talent Ranking is based on countries’ performance in three main 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.

Hard data and responses to the IMD Executive Opinion Survey are used to produce the ranking. The latter annual survey compiles input from over six thousand executives based in 63 different economies.

“Economies placed in the top 10 of the ranking generally share high levels of investment in public education and a high quality of life, which allow them both to develop local human capital and to attract highly-skilled professionals from abroad,” said Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

View the complete rankings here.

Michael O'Brien
Michael J. O'Brienhttp://54.82.85.82
Michael J. O’Brien is former web editor with Human Resource Executive®.