The IMD World Talent Ranking assesses the extent to which an economy develops its domestic talent pool while tapping into the overseas pipeline so as to be able to satisfy the market’s demands for talent. In doing so, talent competitive economies bolster their overall competitiveness. While studying 64 economies, the ranking first evaluates an economy’s efforts to boost its domestic talent (i.e., Investment and Development factor); second, its ability to retain the local talent while drawing from the international talent pool (i.e., Appeal factor); and third, the ranking traces the skills and competencies available in a particular economy (i.e., Readiness factor).

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, talent competitiveness has experienced taxing circumstances. As we indicated in the 2020 edition of our Talent Raking, to sustain productivity under pandemic conditions, the level of workers’ motivation was fundamental. This has been particularly challenging for those members of the workforce whose tasks have transitioned to a work-from-home model. The separation of individuals teleworking from their workplace has brought not only a degree of deterioration to the organizational culture but also has increased the distance among staff. In turn, such limited interaction with colleagues has negatively affected the employees’ support network. In this context, the motivation of the workforce has been crucial requiring additional bolstering.