Competitiveness – Switzerland is the most attractive country for skilled workers from all over the world for the fifth time in a row – even in times of Corona. But there are still too few math and science subjects in this country.
According to the comparative study World Talent Ranking by the business school IMD Lausanne, Switzerland held its own in the top place in the 2020 edition, followed by Denmark and Luxembourg. Switzerland manages to best promote local talent and is particularly attractive for employees.
That is why it keeps its own talents in the country and at the same time attracts foreign specialists. It thus takes the top spot for two of the three factors examined.
Switzerland has an efficient health system, high per capita public spending on education and a good quality of life. But it is also a leader in the area of apprenticeship training and wages, according to the study, which has contributed to this result.
Too few science students
For the third factor, which measures the quality of the talent pool available in the country, Switzerland fell from second to fifth place. In this country, fewer students than last year have completed a degree in mathematics and natural science subjects. When it comes to education, as measured by the Pisa study by the OECD, Switzerland only ranks in the middle.
The study authors praise countries that invest a lot in education – at all educational levels. In order to attract skilled workers, it is also important that economies remain open to workers and ideas.
The corona pandemic showed which countries are particularly good at motivating their specialists. And companies from countries like Switzerland that did well in the ranking have tended to have managed to motivate their employees to work from home, according to the experts from IMD.
Western Europe in the lead
In the overall ranking, the Western European countries lead the ranking. Of the neighboring countries of Switzerland, only Austria made it into the top ten and is in sixth place (after fourth place last year). As in 2019, Germany is in 11th place. France lost 3 places and is now in 28th place, Italy remains in 36th place.
The top ten are now dominated by the Scandinavian countries. After Denmark in 2nd place, Iceland ranks 4th, Sweden 5th and Norway 7th. The USA lost three places and ended up in 15th place.
The biggest jump was made by Turkey, which moved up from 58th place last year to 46th place. Brazil, Venezuela, Slovakia, India and Mongolia found it hardest to attract skilled workers to their country.
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