According to Insead’s Knowledge Website the index measures the extent to which countries attract, grow and retain talent and how they translate their efforts into output. “While Switzerland excels at offering an ideal economic environment and retaining domestically-developed talent, Singapore leads the way in attracting and enabling its global talent pool,” is the business school’s explanation for awarding its top spots to these two countries.
The case study focuses on Singapore in particular citing the country’s regular “learning journeys”, organised by the Ministry of Manpower, along with relevant agencies such as the Workforce Development Agency and the Infocomm Development Agency. These try to inspire small businesses how to automate or increase productivity and limit dependence on foreign labour. One of these journeys for example showcased cleaning advances such as robotic floor cleaners and droids that can fold napkins to speed up the work of hotel staff.
Singapore also proves to be leading the way in terms of education. Its recent PISA scores – which saw Singaporean children three years ahead of their American counterparts in mathematics – are a proof of an innovative and successful system. In Singapore children start primary school at the age 6 – before that they spend their days in play-based kindergartens. Later on the school curriculum encourages students to ask questions and to be curious, it introduces coding as a subject early on and teachers are fostered by getting 100 hours a year for training.
Top spots this year went to:
- Switzerland
- Singapore
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Sweden
- Australia
- Luxemburg
- Denmark
- Finland
- Norway
Looking at the current as well as previous results, the authors noted that the top positions were continuously held by high-income countries, or in other words those who are able to deploy capital in innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration. Countries with labour-intensive industries haven’t improved in the past years with China taking 54th, Brazil 81st, and India 92nd (out of 118) for example.
Insead’s research also shows that while technology is eliminating jobs, it is also creating them. Finding the right employees for these new openings is another challenge countries face. It is estimated that up to half of our existing jobs could be automated, maybe not fully but to a certain degree.
Workplaces are also developing, mainly in the shape of new employment forms like contingent and project-based work. Insead suggests that in Europe and the US, as much as 30 per cent of the population earns all or part of their income as freelancers by offering skills through collaborative computer-based platforms.
Read more atKnowledge INSEAD