2017 Global Talent Competitiveness Index Report is Out

INSEAD, The Business School for the World, today released the fourth edition of Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI). Produced 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.

Switzerland and Singapore occupy the top spots in GTCI 2017, with four Nordic countries in the top 10 (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway). The United Kingdom and the United States rank third and fourth respectively.


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.

Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director of Global Indices at INSEAD, and co-editor of the report, commented: “Technology is changing the ways we live and work, though not always in a spectacular fashion: the emergence of a ubiquitous internet, connected objects (e.g. self-driven cars), and virtual teams working from remote locations on a daily basis has been progressive and almost ‘invisible”. This is one of the reasons why they are affecting the world of work so deeply. Yet, to paraphrase Mark Twain, ‘news about the death of work have been largely exaggerated’: talent readiness and talent competitiveness will largely determine which economies will be leading in the race to turn technological advances into job creation.”

Paul Evans, The Shell Chair Professor of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Emeritus, at INSEAD, and Academic Director and co-editor of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, said: “Routine work is being taken over by algorithms and machines, but this creates new opportunities for connected, innovative work. But our school system, dating from the factory age, prepares our children for routine work rather than for creativity and projects, also neglecting to foster the learning-how-to-learn mentality that is needed in a world where people will have multiple careers during their lives”.

Alain Dehaze, Adecco Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “The fast advance of automation and artificial intelligence is the source of the most disruptive changes of our time in the way we live and work. The transition will be rocky, so governments and business must act. Education system reforms are urgently needed to provide the right technical and people skills, and the ability to adapt to change. As a multi-career reality becomes the norm, workers must boost employability by committing to life-long learning. At the same time, employment policies must combine employers’ need for flexibility with social protection. Only by working together will we respond to the challenges, unleash the power of work and boost prosperity.”

Priyanshu Singh, Country Manager & MD, Adecco Group India, said: “Automation and allied technologies will surely impact the workplace of tomorrow. However, it will largely be entry-level or repetitive nature jobs that will be most affected. Opportunities will simply transition up the value chain. (Re)skilling will be key for job seekers to remain relevant in the market. An understanding of the technologies most likely to emerge in their industry of choice will go a long way in creating success for job seekers in an increasingly fast paced environment. It will be equally important for other related stakeholders like the Government, educational or vocational training institutes, senior managers, and HR professionals to play an active role in preparing for this imminent transformation in the way we work.”

Su-Yen Wong, CEO of Human Capital Leadership Institute, said: “Technology has a profound impact on the nature and structure of work. In this digital era where work is constantly evolving, a premium is placed not on employees who possess the highest level of technical competencies, but on those who have the ability to learn and re-learn on the job. Many employees will find themselves facing technological and structural unemployment if they do not re-invent themselves. To harness the power of human capital, governments and companies alike must inculcate a culture of continuous learning in the workforce, and also help individuals who do not possess the right skill sets for the future to reskill.”

As successful transformational change is most likely to occur where there are strong ecosystems, cities and regions are showing the way in talent competitiveness. They frequently enjoy higher financial independence and economic growth rates than the countries in which they are located, are able to focus on improving quality of life, and tend to have more agile decision making and innovative branding abilities. To further explore the dynamics that turn cities into talent magnets, this year the partners launched the inaugural Global Cities Talent Competitiveness Index (GCTCI).

The first edition of the GCTCI includes 46 cities, with Copenhagen placing first, followed by Zurich and Helsinki. San Francisco and Los Angeles are the two American cities in the top ten, ranking 4th and 8th respectively. Sydney and Singapore, ranking 12th and 19th respectively, lead the way in Asia-Pacific. Whereas the talent performance of cities was measured across a series of dimensions, all of the top ten cities combine high quality of life, high connectivity, and high levels of opportunities for international exposure and careers.



Bruno Lanvin, the author of this special section of the report on GCTCI, underlines that “Although the initial version of GCTCI presented this year will undoubtedly undergo significant improvements in the coming years, it offers a vivid picture of a world in which talent moves not only from country to country but also from city to city, often across national borders. Cities are hence emerging as global players on the talent competition scene; the initial GCTCI rankings show that although megacities such as San Francisco, Madrid or Paris are among the leaders, smaller cities such as Copenhagen, Zurich, Gothenburg, or Dublin are competitors to be reckoned with. They are cities where talents can find excellent career opportunities, good connectivity (broadband and transport) and a high quality of life for themselves and their families.”

By analysing the countries in the index, several patterns and trends emerge, summarised as follows:

• Technology and hyper-connectivity are changing the nature of work: along with demographic, economic and social factors, they are driving the rise of a more independent and dispersed workforce. Flexibility is the watchword of our age, as we are shifting from an environment in which work was based on traditional (salaried) employment to one where 30% of the USA and European working population are free agents.

• We must think beyond automation: it is not simply about technology. We are experiencing a profound transformation of society, organisations, careers, education and employment. Organizations become more flat and interconnected; results and collaboration win over authority and hierarchy; and a ‘multi-career’ has become the norm.

• Technical skills PLUS social/project competence are crucial for the new talent profile since innovation increasingly comes from collaboration. As the world we live in is so unpredictable, young people must be empowered by ‘learning how to learn’, along with creativity, problem solving and communication skills. Curricula must consist of experiential and project based approaches, including work-based training opportunities, such as apprenticeship systems. In the multi-career age, moreover, life-long learning is a must.

• Educational and labour market policies are the key challenges of transformational change: cooperation between government, business and educational institutions is critical to ensure rapid reform of the education system and to design employment policies that combine labour market flexibility with social protection.

• The first (beta) version of GCTCI offers an unusual picture of how cities compete for talent: there are many small cities amongst the top performers in the GCTCI (7/10 have less than 400,000 inhabitants); top performers combine the best of both worlds (high quality of life combined with opportunities for international exposure and careers); and a remarkably high number of Scandinavian cities (3) feature in the top 5, having benefited from concerted strategies for attracting and retaining talent.