Switzerland continues to be top magnet for talent

Switzerland is once again the country with the greatest ability to develop both homegrown talent and to attract talent from abroad, according to the IMD World Talent Ranking 2020, published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne.

The alpine nation has come in first place for the fifth consecutive year in the annual ranking. And this year again, the gap between Switzerland and the other countries is noticeable. While the IMD analysts gave Switzerland a full 100 points, second-placed Denmark received 91.781 points followed by Luxembourg with 89.192 points.

Switzerland is a top performer both in terms of total investment in the education system and talent development, as well as in the quality of talent itself. It has the best apprenticeship training in the world and is the global number two in terms of public expenditure per student. The international experience of its senior managers is top-notch, and the education of its students and managers meets the needs of companies like no other country in the world.

Switzerland is also highly appealing to international talent, and highly skilled professionals are attracted to it like to no other country. Switzerland is also number one in the world when it comes to the remuneration of highly qualified specialists and managers, though the cost of living is high.

According to the report’s authors, Switzerland is likely to remain a magnet for talent in the future given that the international trend is to move away from a purely academic education towards a holistic concept of education that develops talent for the entire economy. This includes outstanding vocational training as well as strong worker motivation, the latter of which is particularly important in the current COVID-19 crisis, when more and more employees are working from home.

The IMD World Competitiveness Center produced the report in collaboration with 56 partner institutes by surveying thousands of managers worldwide to evaluate the 63 countries represented in the ranking. Two non-European countries made it to the top ten, with Canada coming in ninth place and Singapore in tenth. Canada is also the highest ranked country with more than 20 million inhabitants, followed by Germany.