China Leads Asian Pacific Challenge in Talent War, First Ever Global Talent Index Reveals

China Leads Asian Pacific Challenge in Talent War, First Ever Global Talent Index Reveals

September 28, 2007

    LONDON, Sept. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Asian Pacific
countries are increasingly challenging the US and Europe
when it comes to attracting and nurturing talent, the first
ever Global Talent Index (GTI) reveals.

    China will lead the way, building on its natural
advantage as the world's most populous country to
significantly improve its education system and labor market
over the next five years, the index produced by executive
search firm Heidrick and Struggles and the Economist
Intelligence Unit reveals. It will rise from eighth place
on the 30-strong GTI in 2007 to sixth place in 2012, taking
over as Asia Pacific's leading country from Australia, which
falls from seventh to eighth position.

    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.

    Asia Pacific performs very strongly overall, with
Malaysia, South Korea and Japan accompanying China, India
and Australia in the top 15 in 2012. India will retain 10th
position on the Index, followed by Malaysia, which will
remain in 12th place, South Korea, which will rise from
15th to 13th, and Japan (16th to 14th). Thailand will
remain in 22nd place and Indonesia will stay at 29th.

    South Korea has the best universities and business
schools in the Asia Pacific, the Index reveals, while Japan
is the highest ranked country in the region for the quality
of compulsory education and the quality of environment for
nurturing talent. Despite remaining in the same position
overall, Thailand's ranking on the mobility and relative
openness of the labor market index will fall dramatically,
from 13th to 26th place -the biggest single fall by any
country on any of the measures.

    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 currently and will be in five years' time. Thirty
countries were chosen for the survey based on a
representative geographical spread and the quality of
available comparative data.

    Gerry Davies, regional managing partner for Asia
Pacific at Heidrick and Struggles, said: "China's rise
up the rankings shows that the Asia Pacific is beginning to
flex its muscles when it comes to developing talent. The
strong performances of Australia, India, Malaysia, South
Korea and Japan prove that this is happening across the
entire region."

    The US will maintain its position as the world's
leading country for nurturing and developing talent over
the next five years, the survey shows. The UK will rise
from fourth to second place in 2012, and will be followed
by Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden.

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

    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."

    The Index is the result of 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 separate 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

    /NOTE TO EDITORS:  Media images are available at
http://www.heidrickone.com/mediakits/gti /


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