New talent attractiveness assessment

There is a new talent attractiveness assessment tool out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Their Indicators of Talent Attractiveness or ITA ranks OECD countries in their ability to attract talented migrants. This new index looks at a variety of dimensions and weights their relative importance. Since not all dimensions are of the same importance to every individual, the ITA allows the user to weigh the relative importance of each dimension and produce an individually customized ranking showing which destination best corresponds to their own priorities. There are seven dimensions: quality of opportunities; income and tax; future prospects; family environment; skills environment; inclusiveness; and quality of life. 

According to the report, "The OECD Indicators of Talent Attractiveness is the first comprehensive tool to capture, in a multidimensional framework, strengths and weaknesses of OECD countries regarding their capacity to attract and retain three specific categories of talented migrants: highly qualified workers (those with master and doctoral degrees), university students and foreign entrepreneurs."

There are other rankings that we have mentioned in the past. Going back to a few previous posts: Which Countries Are The Best At Attracting Talent? referenced the World Talent Rankings from the IMD Business School. What are the most attractive cities for expatriate talent? post referenced the "2019 Quality of Living" report which is now out from Mercer. These are the best countries and cities for attracting and developing talent references the Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI). 

However, the OECD Indicators of Talent Attractiveness takes a different and innovative approach to this same question. It distinguishes different types of talented migrants and relies on group-specific observations from large scale household surveys and immigration data that captures the difficulties that these groups of migrants face when trying to obtain a visa or residence permit.

A couple of key takeaways from the report:

• The most attractive OECD countries for entrepreneurs are Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. This reflects relatively low minimum capital investments and job creation requirements in these countries. 
• Greece, Mexico and Turkey are lagging on this indicator.  
• For international university students, the top five countries are Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Finland and the United States. 
• Some countries that have many international students, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, fall in the ranking due to relatively high tuition fees.

The report should cause companies to re-consider how their immigration policies are impacting their ability to attract the best and brightest and consider how that plays into their future prosperity and whether companies will continue to invest in them.