“TALENT IS THE NEW OIL”
April 7th, 2008 by Nico LuchsingerSandbox is all about identifying and bringing together young talents. While setting up a global talent initiative, we have observed that it becomes increasingly important for businesses to attract and retain the best talents. This view has recently been supported by an extensive study carried out by Heidrick and Struggles, one of the leaders in global executive search, and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Global Talent Index (available in full here) starts with the claim that “talent is the new oil” – and that, just with oil, demand for talent far outstrips supply.
Talent employees, says the study, are becoming more and more like customers, shopping around the globe for the best jobs. So businesses as well have to adopt a more global view of recruiting. To prevail in the War for Talent, they have to track high-flyers proactively and in the long term.
So where is talent most likely to be found? The Global Talent Index ranks a number of countries by taking into account various factors like demographics, education system, mobility and openness of the labour market, and trends in FDI. The ranking forecast for the year 2012 still sees the UK and the US at the top, with Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden following. China will push up the ranks and hold place number six, followed by Germany, Australia, France and India.
