The race of AI revolution has redefined global talent competitiveness 2020

There is a widening gap of digital skills, especially in Artificial Intelligence (AI) between Vietnam and other high-income nations, according to key findings from the 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) research from the Adecco Group, the world’s leading HR solutions company, together with Google and INSEAD.

This year’s GTCI report addresses the theme of global talent in the age of AI. Notably, the report finds that high-income countries are progressing quickly and dominate the top 25. These ‘talent champions’ are accelerating further away from the rest of the world, including Vietnam. This divide is being intensified by the rise of AI since more than half of the population in the developing world are still struggling with basic digital skills.

Classified in the lower-middle-income group and in Eastern, South Eastern & Oceania, Vietnam performs particularly well against its region and rises 10 spots, to 59 in Global Knowledge Skills. The greatest scope for improvement, meanwhile, is in Vocational and Technical (VT) Skills, in which Employability is the weakest sub-pillar. The ranking of the ‘Attract’ pillar also drops from 91^st in 2019 to 105^th in 2020.

Figure 1: Vietnam global ranking (GTCI sample of 132 countries)

Note: Attract, Grow, Retain, Enable, VT skills, and GK Skills constitute the six pillars of the GTCI model.

 

Attract	Grow	Retain
The ability to captivate valuable foreign resources as FDI and high-skilled migrants, as well as remove barriers to enable an inclusive workforce	The ability to provide world-class education, apprenticeships, and growth opportunities to widen their global capacity	The ability to engage talent to deliver their best and reach their potential, while remaining within a country
Enable	VT Skills	GK Skills
The regulatory, market, business, and labour landscapes within a country that create a favourable climate for talent to develop and thrive	Middle-level skills which are measured by the degree of employability. The indicators of employability are skills gaps and labour market mismatches and by the adequacy of education systems.	High-level skills which are measured by innovation, entrepreneurship, and the development of high-value industries.

Focusing on Global Talent in the Age of AI, this GTCI edition introduces a new component—Technology Adoption, in the Enable pillar. It aims to capture the extent to which countries are taking steps to be ready at the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It, therefore, provides a measure of how well countries are enabling the development of talents associated with advanced technologies such as AI and the Internet of Things.

Figure 2 depicts the rankings of countries in the GTCI 2020 and in the three variables that relate to the Technology Adoption component. Vietnam ranked 96th overall, finds itself in the bottom quartile for Technology utilization (102nd) and in the third quartile when it comes to Investment in emerging technologies (65th). As for the variable Robot density (41st), Vietnam is positioned in the second quartile.

Figure 2: Performance in GTCI 2020 and Technology Adoption variable

Among the group of lower-middle-income countries, Indonesia remarkably has risen 20 places in the rankings since 2015 to 53^rd spot. The analysis indicated that AI may provide significant opportunities for emerging markets to leap ahead in talent competitiveness and potentially become ‘global delivery centers’ for AI applications. For example, some developing countries, including China, Costa Rica, and Malaysia, are leveraging AI opportunities to become talent champions in their respective regions.

In 2020 the top-ranking positions in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index continue to be held by high-income countries. The index reflects a high correlation between GDP per capita and GTCI scores. The top 3 talent champions remain the same as last year, including Switzerland, the USA & Singapore. Switzerland continues to lead the world in talent competitiveness and has dominated the ranking since 2013. This country is the global leader in lifelong learning, sustainability, and technology adoption. The US moves from third place to second, pushing Singapore down one place compared to 2019. Not far behind was Singapore (3^rd) followed by Northern European countries such as Sweden (4^th), Denmark (5^th), Netherlands (6^th), and Finland (7^th).



Looking at cities, New York tops the ranking this year, followed by London, Singapore, San Francisco, and Boston. Of the remaining cities in the top 10, two are from Eastern Asia - Hong Kong (6^th) and Tokyo (8^th). Generally, cities with a proven ability for “future readiness” ranked highly, with activities in fields including AI, Fintech, and Medtech. Many cities are increasingly transforming to smart cities and becoming testbeds for new AI-based tools such as facial recognition, tele-surveillance, and self-driven vehicles

Alain Dehaze, CEO of the Adecco Group said; “The human role in the world of work is being augmented by technology rather than substituted by it. At the Adecco Group, we see AI already generating tremendous opportunities, creating many new jobs, including ones that don’t yet exist, and allowing employees to do more uniquely human tasks and activities’’.

Please fill out the form here to receive the full GTCI report.
 

In its 7th edition, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) is annual benchmarking tool ranking countries and major cities on their ability to develop, attract and retain talent.

Developed in 2013 by INSEAD in partnership with the Adecco Group, the report provides a tool for governments, cities, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations to help design their talent strategies, overcome talent mismatches, and be competitive in the global marketplace. GTCI covers national and organizational parameters and generates insights to inspire action.

This year’s index includes 70 variables and covers 132 countries and 155 cities, across all groups of income and levels of development. The GTCI is a composite index, relying on a robust, action-focused Input-Output model, for policymakers and business leaders to learn from and respond to.

Our online media releases: Pháp Luật, CefeF, Người Lao Động, Tienphong News, Vietnam Investment Review, Vietnamnet, Intellasia, Brands Vietnam, Le Courrier du Vietnam, The Leader, Khoa học & Đời sống, Cafebiz.