Malaysia takes fifth spot for talent competitiveness in APAC

- With inputs from Wani Azahar.

While Malaysia retains fifth spot in APAC in INSEAD's Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2018, the Southeast Asian country rose one place globally - from 28th last year to 27th this year.

During yesterday's launch event attended by Human Resources, INSEAD shared that this year's report, produced in partnership with The Adecco Group and Tata Communications, underscores the importance of diversity for building innovative teams. Stating that talent diversity is still a largely untapped resource, INSEAD explained that leveraging diversity for competitiveness requires resources, commitment and leadership.

Examining 119 countries globally, the report revealed common characteristics among top-ranking countries included 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.

Among the APAC countries, Singapore retains its top position for the fifth consecutive year (and second globally), followed by Australia (11th), New Zealand (12th), Japan (20th), Malaysia (27th), and South Korea (30th).

Singapore continues to occupy the top spot in Asia Pacific and is the leader in the 'enable' pillar and 'attract' pillar, while Malaysia 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.

Amongst BRICS nations, China (7th in APAC and 43rd globally) leads the pack, moving up 11 spots from last year. The country is placed in the top quartile in the 'grow' and 'global knowledge skills' pillars.

Whereas among lower-middle-income countries, the Philippines (9th in APAC and 54th globally) came out top, with its greatest strength being its good pool of 'global knowledge skills' as well as the way it provides leadership opportunities for women.

In APAC, the 10 most talent competitive countries included:

1. Singapore (2nd globally)
2. Australia (11th globally)
3. New Zealand (12th globally)
4. Japan (20th globally)
5. Malaysia (27th globally)
6. South Korea (30th globally)
7. China (43rd globally)
8. Kazakhstan (51st globally)
9. Philippines (54th globally)
10. Thailand (70th globally)

Scroll through the gallery to check out the country profiles and an infographic of how talent diversity can drive global competitiveness:

[gallery link="file" size="full" ids="100107,100100,100105,100101,100104,100103,100110,100102,100106,100108,100112"]

Globally, European countries continue to dominate the GTCI rankings, with eight of them in the top 10. Switzerland maintains its number 1 position, followed by Singapore, the United States, Norway, and Sweden. Rounding up the top 10 are Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Infographics and lead photo / INSEAD