Portugal lost its ability to attract and retain talent in 2022 – Labor Market
Portugal lost ten positions in the ability to attract foreign talent and retain national talent, but it managed to improve other indicators that allowed the country to climb two positions in the world ranking prepared by the Institute for Management Development (IMD).
According to the list released this Thursday, December 8, after two years in 26th position, Portugal managed to recover two places, now occupying the 24th position ahead of countries like Spain (32nd) or Italy (36th). Despite this advance, it is still far from reaching the 17th position in 2018.
The ranking of the Swiss institute assesses “the status and development of the skills necessary for companies and the economy to achieve long-term value creation”, says the institution’s statement. The list results from a survey of executives in 64 economies with questions grouped into three large groups: “attractiveness”, that is, the ability to attract foreign talent and retain national talent; “investment and development”, which refers to resources devoted “to cultivating a local workforce”; and “preparation”, which assesses the quality of “skills and competencies available in the country’s talent pool”.
In the “investment and development” indicator, Portugal rose from 25th to 22nd, the best position since 2018.
The “preparedness” indicator is the one in which the country is best ranked, occupying the 19th position among 63 countries. This includes outcomes such as skilled labor, language skills and higher education.
the brain drain
The ability to attract talent is one of the aspects focused on by IMD in the analysis of this year’s ranking. The data “shows that pre- and post-pandemic patterns not with respect to brain drain did not have such a detrimental effect on countries that managed to remain competitive” in this area.
Saudi Arabia – which rose eight places in the last year – was an “economy that managed to further improve its ability to attract talent between 2019 and 2022, among the 63 countries analyzed”, says the IMD. By contrast, the US, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela recorded the biggest declines.
The Swiss institute determined that an economy’s attractiveness is measured by factors including pay, taxes, cost of living and education system, but also the country’s position on environmental issues and a fair judicial system.
At the top of the table in attracting talent remains Switzerland for the sixth consecutive year, followed by Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Denmark.
In the global ranking, Switzerland is in the lead, followed by Sweden, with Iceland closing the podium.