IMD World Talent Ranking 2021

The asymmetries we discussed in the past with respect to the performance of Eastern Europe and Southern Asia and the Pacific remain. Thus, the Eastern European economies place a strong emphasis in education and development of local talent (Investment and Development factor, 3 rd out of 8 subregions). Yet, they are not able to retain that talent nor to appeal to the international talent pool for their talent needs (Appeal factor, 7 th ; Readiness factor, 6 th ). In comparison, the Southern Asia and the Pacific subregion performs below the average in the development of local talent (Investment and Development factor, 5 th ). The fact that the subregion manages to attract high skilled talent from the international pool (Appeal, 3 rd ), safeguards

the skills and competences that are needed in their local job market (Readiness, 3 rd ). Both subregions, Eastern Europe and Southern Asia and the Pacific, however, neglect the balance between the development and retention of their domestic talent and the enticement of the international talent pool, which much benefits competitive regions. There are some success stories that need to be highlighted. Over the past five years, six out of the ten most- improved economies in terms of talent competitiveness are Central/Eastern European economies. Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Estonia, Slovenia and Romania gained each at least ten places between 2017 and 2021 ( Figure 4 ).

Figure 4: Top 10 improvements 2017-2021

Ukraine is the country that has improved the most, rising 13 places to 46 th in 2021. This improvement comes from strengthening the Investment & Development factor from 35 th in 2017 to 26 th now, as well as the Readiness factor that rose from 60 th to 44 th in the same period. Estonia joined the group of the top 20 most competitive economies in talent reaching 19 th place in 2021. Such an advancement emerges from its increasing appeal for the international talent pool (from 38 th in 2017 to 20 th

in 2021) while ensuring that its ranking in Investment and Development of the local talent remains strong. This, in turn, facilitates the availability of the level of skills and competences needed in the local competitive market, which is reflected in Estonia’s performance in the Readiness factor moving from 35 th to 29 th during the same period.

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IMD WORLD TALENT RANK ING 2021