Taiwan has placed 16th on Swiss business school IMD’s annual global talent competitiveness ranking. That’s four places up from last year’s ranking, and also the highest ranking Taiwan has achieved in the past decade.
This year’s ranking compared the competitiveness of the workforces of 64 economies around the world. Taiwan’s ranking was the third highest of any Asian economy, after Hong Kong, which landed in 11th place, and Singapore, which landed in 12th.
In addition to the overall ranking, IMD also ranked all 64 economies in three sub-categories: “Investment and Development”, “Appeal”, and “Readiness”. Taiwan moved up several places from last year in all three categories.
The National Development Council says this shows that Taiwan has kept its labor market stable, continued training skilled workers as normal, and continued to attract foreign talent, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It also said this shows the quality of Taiwan’s medical system and the benefits pandemic-control policies have had on the economy.
At the same time, however, the council says the rankings show that Taiwan has significant room to improve when it comes to women’s participation in the workforce, keeping Taiwanese workers in Taiwan, and attracting foreign talent. It says that a lack of flexibility with regards to working hours and an emphasis on full-time rather than part-time jobs are largely to blame, especially when it comes to keeping women out of the workforce.