Singapore’s economy is now the most talent-competitive in Asia according to Swiss business school IMD’s 2015 World Talent Ranking report. Globally, Singapore comes in at number ten, a leap of six places on last years position, and is the only Asian economy to make it into the top ten.
Not only is Singapore the top rated talent-competitive country in Asia but it comes in ahead of such world powers as Sweden, France, the United States and Great Britain.
Ranking System
The authoritative IMD report evaluates over sixty worldwide economies in terms of developing, attracting and keeping talent based on three criteria: Investment and Development, Appeal and Readiness.
- Investment and Development. This covers areas including expenditure on education, availability of apprenticeships, women in the work force and the country’s health system.
- Appeal. The cost of living and the ability to attract and retain talent are two of the key factors in judging an economy’s appeal. Others include motivation, the quality of life, security and pay and income tax levels.
- Readiness. This category covers a multitude of criteria used to judge the competition for talent in an economy. Availability of skilled labor and current growth in the labor force are the most crucial yardsticks but other factors include manager competency, the education system and the teaching of science subjects, language skills and an overall assessment of student mobility.
Singapore Ranks Highly
For Investment and Development, Singapore had mixed results. Scoring highly for its health infrastructure, the economy got low marks for both its female labor force and expenditure on education. Both areas are currently being improved upon.
Singapore scored well in the Appeal category, rating fifth in the world for attracting skilled foreign labor and ninth for retaining talent. Security also got high marks while the cost of living and income tax didn’t fare as well. Overall, Singapore finished 18th of the 61 economies included in the survey.
Singapore came into its own and really shone in the Readiness section of the IMD evaluation report finishing in second spot globally. Scoring very highly in the university education and manager training sections, as well as in the availability of science education in schools, Singapore was only narrowly outscored by the world-ranked Number One economy of Switzerland.
Keeping Up with Change
The IMD report noted that in order for an economy to become successful it is necessary to consider the actual business needs of not just today but of the future. Singapore has already addressed this need and customized the education system at all levels to meet today’s economic requirements as well as planning for future changes.
As a city state without any natural resources, Singapore has taken the economic and digital path to success by concentrating its efforts in the financial sector and has become a hub for talent in the technology, digital marketing, economic and commodities trading sectors of the world economy.
Bright Future
Singapore’s economy continues to grow each year and the competition for talent is fierce as the need for qualified professionals to fill more and more vacancies increases.
The success of Singapore’s economy is Asia’s jewel in the crown. The number of vacancies being created is outstripping the number of job-seekers available and the Singapore unemployment rate of 1.9% (considered as full employment) is one of the lowest of all the developed countries.