Malaysia ranks 27th in global talent competitiveness

KUCHING: Malaysia has been ranked 27th globally in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2018, one of six Asia-Pacific countries ranked in the top 30.

According to a press release on GTCI 2018, Malaysia moves up one spot from last year and remains the leader in the group of upper-middle-income countries by performing particularly well in the Enable and the Vocational and Technical Skills pillars.

“The attraction of talent is explained in part by the country’s excellent performance in variables related to management practices and growth opportunities.

“Outstandingly, in terms of collaboration across organisations, Malaysia is ranked first in the world.”

Meanwhile, Singapore retains its top position in Asia Pacific for the fifth consecutive year in the GTCI 2018, announced today during GTCI’s Asia Launch Event at INSEAD campus in Singapore.

Produced in partnership with The Adecco Group and Tata Communications, the GTCI is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of 119 countries to compete for talent.

With the theme of ‘Diversity for Competitiveness’, the GTCI 2018 examines two types of diversity: cognitive (differences in knowledge, experience and perspectives) and identity (gender, race, age etc.).

The report underscores the importance of diversity for building innovative teams and to equip organisations with the ability to address the needs of markets and operations in multicultural environments.

The report underlines that diversity is also an investment: people are often ill equipped to collaborate with others who are different from themselves.

Leveraging diversity for competitiveness hence requires resources, commitment and leadership.

In GTCI 2018, six Asia-Pacific countries rank in the top 30: Singapore is first ( and second globally), followed by Australia (11th), New Zealand (12th), Japan (20th), Malaysia (27th) and South Korea (30th).

Top- ranking countries share several characteristics, including having educational systems focused on employability, flexible regulatory and business landscapes, employment policies which combine flexibility and social protection, as well as demonstrating external and internal openness-all top countries are committed to harnessing cognitive and identity diversity.