Adecco ranks cities with best global talent index

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Conducted by the Adecco Group, in collaboration with the Insead business school and the Tata Communications agency, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) has revealed, for the sixth consecutive year, which countries and cities are key players in competitiveness and talent, based on 6 macro indicators.

In the VI edition of the Competitiveness Index for Global Talent of Adecco, Insead and Tata Communications, Spain has been very well positioned to have four cities in the upper half of the table: Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona and Zaragoza, identified - together with the other 114 cities - based on their reputation and their growing footprint in recruitment, growth and retention of global talent instead of their size or capital status.

Among the Spanish the best positioned is Madrid, which takes 23rd place with 56.9 points, very similar to its results a year ago. Likewise, although the other three - Bilbao, Barcelona and Zaragoza - lowering their scores with respect to 2018 (by 3.5, 6.4 and 1.7 points, respectively) they also manage to be included in the Index of this year, placing themselves in the 44th, 49th and 54th position of the ranking. However, Adecco Group highlights the sixth position that the capital manages to achieve within one of the six pillars that includes the CTCI: Retention, where it reaches a score of 72.7.

With respect to the top 10 cities, Washington (USA) achieved leadership after being 6th in 2018. They are followed by Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Vienna (Austria), Zurich (Switzerland), Helsinki (Finland), New York (USA), Paris (France) and the first Asian city of the ranking, Seoul (South Korea). Of them, six managed to be included in this top a year ago, while for the other four - Vienna, Boston, New York and Seoul - this will be the first time they break into it.

Regarding the position of Spain in the global ranking - with an average of all the analyzed variables of 52.85 points, 2.06 less than in 2019 - the nation ranked 31st in the ranking of the 125 countries analyzed by the GTCI, minimally improving its relative position with respect to 2018 when it was ranked 31 out of 119 countries.

In addition, Spain is among the countries classified as high income (according to World Bank data) whose average score for this group is 59.93 points (very similar to the 2018 index of 60.92).

When comparing its position with respect to that of the other European countries that make up the analysis, Spain is ranked 20 out of 37 European countries analyzed (one position lower than in 2018), surpassing nations such as Lithuania, Latvia, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Russia, Montenegro, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Even so, Spain is in a good position in comparison with the rest of European countries, since 54% of them - compared to 49% in 2018 - occupy a lower position in the ranking. However, its position is not as good as it is for high-income countries, given that only 40% of them occupy a lower position, a percentage that improves from 36% a year ago.

On the other hand, outside the European framework, Spain occupies a position superior to that of all the countries of Latin America, Central and South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In Latin America, Chile is close, and in North Africa and Western Asia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Israel occupy superior positions. As was expected last year, Spain has lagged behind emerging Asian countries such as Malaysia or South Korea.

The position of Spain in the six pillars that are analyzed in the GTCI

In the 'Retention' pillar, Spain occupies high positions with respect to 'sustainability' and 'lifestyle' and in 'global knowledge skills', that is, it has a population with higher education and researchers; while the pillar of 'professional and technical skills' represents one of its greatest challenges for the future. The latter includes mid-level skills and employability: ease of finding qualified employees, relevance of the educational system for the economy, etc.

Also, within the pillar of the 'Facilitators' (position 37 for Spain in the GTCI), the country reaches the 20th position in what has to do with 'competitive intensity' and the 25th in 'ICT infrastructure'. On the other hand, it falls to 76th place in the 'panorama of companies and work', and to 92 in the 'ratio of wages to productivity'. This pillar includes, for example, aspects such as the regulatory framework of the country, spending on R & D, the use of technology or variables directly related to the labor market, such as the ease of hiring (position 105) and dismissing (position 45) or the ratio of salary to productivity (92).

In the pillar that measures the 'Recruitment', Spain falls to 39th place (from 34 in 2018) and worsens from the 5th to the 11th position in terms of 'tolerance for immigrants'. In addition, there is still much to do in 'arrival of brains' (position 71) and in 'managerial opportunities for women', where it remains in the position 112 of 125 countries analyzed, being the most negative index of Spain in the GTCI 2019 and with a significant decrease compared to 2018, when it occupied the 89th position. Following the gender perspective, Spain ranks 50th in the 'gender wage gap'.

In 'Growth', Spain obtains a better position (32 out of 125), being the 5th in what refers to 'enrollment in higher education' (4th in 2018). It also occupies an important place 12 in 'quality management schools' and 22 in the 'classification of universities'. Instead, it falls to position 79 in 'worker development' and up to position 107 in 'agency collaboration'.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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