Singapore Workforce Ranks Among The Best In The World

Singapore and the United States of America have retained their leading positions as the world’s most talent-competitive countries, according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2023. European countries continue to dominate the Top 25, with 17 of them ranked. For the first time, Japan dropped out of the Top 25 and South Korea moved in.

Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023 – Top 25 ranking

Looking at the last 10 years of data, one significant highlight is that the top 10 countries have largely remained the same. Remarkably, eight of the top 10 countries in this year’s list also ranked among the inaugural top 10 in 2013.

Titled What A Difference Ten Years Make – And What To Expect For The Next Decade, GTCI 2023, published by INSEAD in collaboration with Descartes Institute for the Future, and Human Capital Leadership Institute, covered 134 countries around the world, across all income groups. The annual benchmarking GTCI measures how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent.

What will talent competitiveness look like in the next 10 years?

This report boldly offers a “time capsule” of six key messages regarding talent in 2033.

1) Talent competitiveness will gain even more importance as a critical element of competitiveness, innovation and geopolitical soft power for nations, cities and organisations.

2) Talent competition will grow fiercer. As uncertainties and international tensions will continue to accumulate (in trade, in investment, in politics and diplomacy), there will be growing talent wars.

3) The world of work will further transform, driven by evolving expectations from younger generations, new economic models and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).

4) Cities and regions will pioneer new talent strategies and innovation. Quality of life and sustainability will be critical assets for those aiming to become talent hubs.

5) Global talent-focused policies will be crucial to prevent tensions, and harness human and technological potential for a better, more sustainable and equal world.

6) Skills and education will remain vital tools to empower workers to make meaningful contributions to their economies and societies.

“For the past 10 years, GTCI has been at the forefront of benchmarking and analytical thinking in the areas of labour markets, work organisation and talent flows,” says Co-author of the report Bruno Lanvin, Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD and Founder and President of Descartes Institute for the Future. “It is now time to look at the future. Talent competition will be one of the pillars of the next age of globalisation. Our collective ability to make the world less unequal, and the planet more sustainable, will depend heavily on our capacity to grow, attract and nurture the right talents.”