UK to Become the World's Second Biggest Talent Hotspot by 2012, First Ever Global Talent Index Reveals

LONDON, September 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The UK will be ranked second among thirty leading countries for attracting and nurturing talent by 2012, according to the first ever Global Talent Index (GTI).

Only the US will outstrip the UK as a location for talent in five years' time, the index produced by executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles in co-operation with the Economist Intelligence Unit reveals. In 2012 the UK will have the highest quality compulsory education system in the Index, the second highest quality universities and business schools, and the second most open labour market, the GTI shows.

It will replace the Netherlands as Europe's highest placed country, which is pushed down to fourth place from its ranking for this year. Sweden, Germany and France also feature in the top 10.

The GTI is the first survey of its kind to be undertaken. It is aimed at providing businesses with comprehensive evidence of where talent is located across the world, both now and in five years time. Thirty countries were chosen for the survey based on a representative geographical spread and the quality of available comparative data.

David Peters, Managing Partner of Heidrick and Struggles EMEA, said: "The Global Talent Index shows that it is not just in the Square Mile that British industry is a world leader. The openness of our labour market, combined with our excellent schools and universities, prove that the UK is one of best business locations in the world - and is becoming even better."

The US will retain its position as the world's biggest talent hotspot in 2012, the survey shows. However, it faces increasing competition from China, which will move up from eighth to sixth position in the index of 30 countries. The Global Talent Index reveals that China is becoming a much more positive environment for nurturing talent as the quality of its compulsory education improves.

Despite the strong performance of the US overall, its labour market is set to become less open and flexible by 2012 amid fears of terrorism. It will rank 9th worldwide on this measure -only one place above China.

The GTI shows that the much fabled 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China) phenomenon should more accurately be expressed as 'IC' when it comes to talent. While China and India rank among the top 10 talent hotspots worldwide, Russia will fall from sixth to 11th place by 2012, while Brazil will slip from 18th to 19th.

Kevin Kelly, CEO of Heidrick and Struggles, said: "Until now, companies may have sensed which countries attracted and developed talent most effectively, but objective data to support their impressions was simply unavailable.

"If talent is the oil of our future, we need to pinpoint the hotspots, identify the reserves and know how fast the pipelines can get up and running. The Global Talent Index will enable us to do this."

Overall, the survey confirms that talent follows where money leads. After the US and UK, the next best countries for attracting and developing talent are the relatively open economies of Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden. Another noticeable trend is that several of the least promising performers do not yet boast fully functioning democracies.

Asia performs strongly overall, with Malaysia, South Korea and Japan accompanying China and India in the top 15 by 2012. Ukraine will overtake Russia and Argentina will fall dramatically over the next five years.

The Index is the result of a collaboration between Heidrick and Struggles and the Economist Intelligence Unit. It measures each country's potential for producing talent and the conditions necessary to realise this potential. Seven measures were used in assessing each country: demographics, quality of compulsory education systems, quality of universities and business schools, quality of the environment to nurture talent, mobility and relative openness of the labour market, trends in foreign direct investment and proclivity to attract talent.

About Heidrick & Struggles

Founded in 1953, Heidrick & Struggles (NASDAQ:HSII), is recognised as one of the world's leading executive search firms. With 61 offices in the principal cities of 32 countries, it helps its clients to address strategic issues that have human capital solutions in times of growth, turnaround, acquisition, integration, expansion into new markets, and when responding to economic flux.

With its executive search, leadership services and interim management capabilities, Heidrick & Struggles can seamlessly integrate a bespoke programme to meet the diverse leadership challenges facing its client organisations. The organisation prides itself on its relationships with, and immediate access to, some of the world's most talented people.

http://www.heidrick.com