Washington, D.C. has been crowned as the city that's leading the way in talent competitiveness, thanks to its ability to attract and nurture entrepreneurs, whilst meeting the needs of being a strongly-connected, "global" city.
"Its steady economy, dynamic population, outstanding infrastructure and connectivity, highly-skilled workforce and world class education are all characteristics which contribute to making the city such a talent hub," a statement released alongside the Global Cities Talent Competitiveness Index (GCTCI) said this week. Last year it ranked sixth, with Zurich taking the top spot.
Following the U.S. capital, several Western European cities ranked high in the 2019 list, with Copenhagen, Oslo, Vienna and Zurich all filling out the top five places for talent-competitiveness. New York and Boston also made an appearance in the top 10, bolstering the U.S.' entrepreneurial status.
To collate its findings, the GCTCI looked at five different pillars: the ability cities have to enable, attract, grow and retain talent, along with an ability to "be global."
Washington, D.C. ranked in the top 10 for three of the five pillars, while many other cities that ranked highly overall, featured in the top 10 for at least two of the pillars. Each pillar had its subsections with variables to take into account, such as environmental quality, airport connectivity and internet access.
The GCTCI ranking was released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos and forms part of this year's Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) report.
The report covered 114 cities from around the world, which highlighted that talent performance is becoming an increasingly significant factor for companies, cities and countries in regards to prosperity and growth.
The overall report looked at competitiveness in terms of countries too, with Switzerland coming in first place, followed by Singapore in second place, and the U.S. in third.
"As the world of work rapidly changes, there is a danger that if countries and cities do not have the right conditions for attracting talent, people and businesses will move away and look for opportunities elsewhere," Adecco Group's CEO Alain Dehaze said in a statement.
Speaking to CNBC at Davos on Wednesday, he added that cities have "the flexibility to design their attractiveness (and) their competitiveness."
"(Cities) are competing for having the best companies, best talents and best universities — and not only at the country level, but also at the global level," he added.
World's most competitive cities
- Washington, D.C. (USA)
- Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Oslo (Norway)
- Vienna (Austria)
- Zurich (Switzerland)
- Boston (USA)
- Helsinki (Finland)
- New York (USA)
- Paris (France)
- Seoul (South Korea)
Here's a full breakdown of the report by INSEAD.
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