United States Ranks Fourth in Global Talent Report

Global talent competitiveness index measures countries on their ability to produce, retain and attract talent

JACKSONVILLE, FL (January 27, 2015) – The United States ranked fourth internationally in producing, retaining and attracting talent, according to the second annual Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI). The Index, which is a partnership between graduate business school INSEAD, the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore, and Adecco Group, the world’s leading provider of human resource solutions, highlighted how vital talent is in today’s competitive global economy.

The GTCI, which measured the competitiveness of 93 nations based on the quality of developed and acquired talent combined along with the range and strength of skills available within the labor market, allows countries to determine and compare where they fall in the global war for talent.

For the second year in a row, Switzerland and Singapore took the two top spots. The index continued to be dominated by European nations, but saw shifts in rankings with Luxembourg, the United States and Canada rounding out the top five countries.

With the United States coming in fourth position, key findings around the U.S. talent landscape included:

• The U.S. led the way in growing its own talent (e.g. formal education, lifelong training, access to networks) and also in terms of a large pool of skills with global knowledge (scientists, engineers and people that innovate and engage in entrepreneurial activities).
• While access to formal education was a strength for the country, the U.S. was average in math, reading and science scores; the U.S. also fell short in student-to-teacher ratios.
• The largest ‘gap’ of the United States in comparison to the top performing countries is in the Attract pillar. This pillar examined external and internal openness of countries along with the ease that individuals can enter the workforce. The U.S. did well in mobility and brain gain but ranked lower in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, the prevalence of foreign business ownership, and FDI investments around bringing new technology to the country.
• The biggest area for improvement for the U.S. is around the development of vocational and skills-oriented training. While these programs have often been downplayed, the benefits of vocational training are numerous.

"In the last year, we’ve seen the U.S. workforce make some major strides, but we must continue to look at ways we can ensure more Americans find jobs," said Bob Crouch, Chief Executive Officer of Adecco Group North America. "This Index draws attention to areas where the United States is leading the war for talent, but also shows opportunities for improvement. It’s time for the public, private and education sectors to come together and determine ways that we can improve the current and future workforce for Americans."

View the GTCI report in full

About Adecco Group North America

Every day we provide our clients with the talent they need, and help solve the business challenges they face today – and will encounter tomorrow. Our clients rely on us for a wide range of workforce solutions including:

• Contingent staffing and direct hire recruitment for large enterprise organizations across all skill sets
• Workforce solutions and consulting including Managed Services Programs (MSP) & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
• Career transition and leadership consulting
• Specialty staffing, project solutions and consulting services

About the Adecco Group

The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is the world’s leading provider of HR solutions. With approximately 32,000 FTE employees and around 5,100 branches in over 60 countries and territories around the world, Adecco Group offers a wide variety of services, connecting more than 650,000 associates with our clients every day. The services offered fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and talent development, as well as outsourcing and consulting. The Adecco Group is a Fortune Global 500 company.

Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN).

Press Contact:
Vannessa Almeida
Adecco Group North America
vannessa.almeida@adeccona.com