Vantage | Why is India slipping in global talent rankings?

Maya Angelou once said, “I believe that every person is born with talent.” That’s a generous thought and might be true, but capitalism strongly disagrees. It claims that only the best of human capital qualifies as talent. Let’s understand this in the context of the workforce. Talent refers to high-performing and high-potential employees. Every country needs them. They are hard-working, high-reaching workers. But not all countries have them equally.

This brings us to the global talent competitiveness index, which is an annual list covering 134 countries. It looks at how countries grow, attract, and retain talent. According to this index, rich nations have always dominated the talent landscape. For example, Switzerland tops the index every year, and this year was no different. It got the best of human capital, followed by Singapore, the US, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Australia, Sweden, and the UK, respectively. But all hope is not lost. Developing nations are making big strides too. The biggest was made by Indonesia among Asian countries. It climbed 14 spots in the last five years which is a long jump. Indonesia achieved this by improving quality of life and job sustainability. However, not all Asian countries were so lucky, for example India, which received the worst ranking among Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations. India is ranked 103rd, sandwiched between Algeria and Guatemala. Remember that India is the world’s most populous nation and an economic powerhouse. But countries like Rwanda, Paraguay, Tunisia, Namibia, Bolivia, Ghana, and Gambia are all ranked higher than India. This is not a good look for the world’s fifth largest economy. According to the report, India is not able to attract talent domestically. People under the age of 25 account for more than 40 per cent of the population. But almost half of them (45.8 per cent) were unemployed as of last year. According to reports as much as 39.3 per cent of recruiters face challenges in finding the right talent for the right job. That is about 40 per cent! But that’s not all, this problem goes beyond India’s borders, India is not being able to attract talent from overseas either. Also, there is the problem of high attrition. Reports say that the median attrition rate of broad-based index or BSE 100 firms in India, stood at 17 per cent this year. As per Studies, If India wants to hit the four trillion economy mark, it needs to add about 100 million workers. This is a big ask but it is not impossible. India is brimming with potential. It has produced world renowned education centres, also some of the world’s top bosses including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai. This shows that the situation is not entirely bleak. It simply needs a pick-me-up. It may sound ironic, but if India needs to cultivate its talent, it must work hard. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._