Switzerland and Singapore are neck and neck in the race to be crowned most competitive jurisdiction for hiring and keeping talent.

Switzerland is fretting about the surge in its currency and Singapore is snapping at its heels in the fight for the world’s wealth management crown. New data, however, shows both jurisdictions are top of the heap when ranked for competitiveness in hiring and keeping talent.

The French-headquartered business school INSEAD, which has offices worldwide, including in Asia, issued its Global Talent Competitiveness Index rankings, putting Switzerland as number one, followed by Singapore, Luxembourg, the US, Canada, Sweden, UK, Denmark, Australia and Ireland.

Singapore maintains its position as a global talent leader for the second time in the study, produced by INSEAD in collaboration with the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore and Adecco Group. The study was first launched in 2013.

Competitiveness is measured by examining the quality of talent it can produce, attract and retain.

“We live in a world where talent has become the core currency of competitiveness – for businesses and national economies alike. Often, however, there is a mismatch between the needs of enterprises and the talents fostered by policies and education systems,” Ilian Mihov, dean of INSEAD, said.

"This mismatch is brought sharply into focus in a region such as Asia, where we observe marked variations in the quality of institutions as well as the size, type, and stage of development of its economies. A consequence of being home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world is that the region is also undergoing sweeping changes at an unprecedented pace, which comes with its own set of challenges,” he added.

While Singapore is the highest-ranking Asian jurisdiction in the index, there remain challenges for the city state, says Bruno Lanvin, executive director of global indices at INSEAD, and co-author of the report.

“Singapore succeeds in attracting top-quality talent from across the world, aided by its cosmopolitan culture as well as effective immigration policies. Singapore, along with Australia and Malaysia, has a regulatory environment that promotes competition, doing business, and innovation. But even by its own high standards, Singapore struggles to grow its vocational and its global leadership talent to meet the needs of the medium- and high-skilled sectors of the economy,” he said.

Turning to another country on the edge of the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, the report said the nation’s number nine position is caused by difficulties in growing technical and vocational talent.

“Australia could learn from the top-ranked Switzerland,” said Paul Evans, the Shell Chaired Professor of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Emeritus, at INSEAD, and co-editor of the report. “Vocational learning needs to be integrated into secondary education. In Switzerland, thinking about becoming employable starts off in schools at an early age. At age 15, over 70 per cent of Swiss school children go on to select what’s known as the apprenticeship track, combining practical work experience with traditional theoretical learning.”

He added: “Within the current Swiss government, half of the ministers have come out of the vocational stream. For future talent competitiveness, countries have to take vocational education – that is, employability – much more seriously."

As in 2013, GTCI rankings are dominated by European countries, with only six non-European countries in the top 20: Singapore (2), the US (4), Canada (5), Australia (9), New-Zealand (16) and Japan (20).