From AI to Geopolitics: ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions’ Latest Total Workforce Index™ Unveils the New Global Talent Landscape

Press Releases

Sep 12, 2024

United States, Singapore, and Canada retain top spots as China enters the top ten for the first time

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — In a year marked by unprecedented technological leaps, geopolitical upheaval, and an increasing focus on sustainability, the 11^th annual Total Workforce Index™ (TWI) from Talent Solutions, a global leader in workforce solutions and part of the ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) family of brands, reveals a shifting and competitive global talent landscape.

The TWI, which evaluates over 200 factors across 64 global labor markets, has introduced new measures for artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, peace, and stability, significantly impacting this year’s rankings. While the United States, Singapore, and Canada retain the top three spots for the fourth consecutive year, these new metrics have reshaped the competitive global workforce environment.

Malaysia maintains its fourth-place position for the second consecutive year, while Ireland and the United Kingdom each move up one spot to fifth and sixth, respectively. After ranking 22^nd in 2022 and 12^th last year, the United Arab Emirates continues its ascent, rising to seventh, driven by high rates of tertiary education, remote readiness, and ongoing innovation investments. Switzerland jumps two spots to eighth, and Australia slips to ninth. China enters the top ten for the first time, propelled by population growth, a large tech workforce, and innovation factors.

“Cost and ease of doing business once drove workforce planning. While those factors are still important, economic, geopolitical, and climate-related risks have significantly impacted business operations and decision-making. At the same time, technological disruption and emerging innovations are not just changing job roles – they’re transforming entire industries and the future of work,” said Becky Frankiewicz, Chief Commercial Officer of ManpowerGroup and Talent Solutions Global Brand Leader. “This year’s TWI serves as a crucial compass in this new landscape, empowering business leaders to make data-driven decisions that not only address current talent needs but also future-proof their workforce strategies in an increasingly tech-driven and volatile world.”

Conversely, Israel drops from fifth to 14th due to new metrics addressing political violence risk and business conduct ease. The Philippines also falls out of the top ten, landing at 12th this year. Corruption and political violence risk are among the newer factors that caused a decline in the Philippines’ rankings.

KEY FINDINGS

The top three overall markets — the United States, Singapore and Canada, respectively — maintain their leading positions for the fourth consecutive year due to the availability of highly skilled workers, employment-friendly regulations, remote-ready infrastructures, innovation and technology investments, and overall political and economic stability.
The introduction of AI readiness and green economy measures significantly impacted rankings, particularly in the Productivity category. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Austria have seen notable improvements in their overall standing due to strong performance in these areas.
Driven by population growth, a large tech workforce, and innovation factors, China enters the top ten for the first time, following a steady ascent from 55 in 2020 to 11 last year. Also entering the top ten is the United Arab Emirates, boosted by high tertiary education rates, remote work readiness, and ongoing innovation investments.
The United States, Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom, and Singapore rank as the top five markets for Availability, with factors including skilled workforce availability, labor force participation, and remote work capabilities.
Thailand, Malaysia, Paraguay, Guatemala, and Bahrain emerge as the top five markets for Cost Efficiency, offering competitive advantages in taxes, wages, and living costs. This marks the third consecutive year Thailand has led this category.
Singapore tops the Regulation category, with Switzerland, Canada, UK, and Estonia following. These markets excel in flexible workforce engagement and minimal employment restrictions.
For Productivity, the U.S. leads, followed by Singapore, Canada, Thailand, and Australia. This ranking reflects potential output based on compensable hours at base pay.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Americas:

The United States retains its top position globally, excelling in Availability and Productivity categories.
Canada remains third overall, with significant improvements in Productivity rankings due to strong performance in AI readiness and green economy measures.
Paraguay and Guatemala both excel in the Cost Efficiency category, offering competitive advantages for businesses looking to optimize expenses.

Asia-Pacific (APAC):

Singapore maintains its second place ranking globally, showcasing its continued strength in workforce competitiveness.
Malaysia holds steady at fourth place, highlighting its appeal for businesses seeking a balance of skilled talent and cost efficiency.
Thailand leads in Cost Efficiency for the third consecutive year, making it an attractive destination for companies prioritizing operational costs.

Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA):

Ireland climbs to fifth place, showcasing its appeal as a destination for high-skill, high-tech industries.
The United Kingdom moves up to sixth place overall, benefiting from strong performances in innovation, security, and sustainability scores.
Bahrain emerges as a top performer in Cost Efficiency, offering attractive options for businesses looking to optimize their workforce costs in the Middle East.

As the global workforce landscape continues to evolve, the TWI remains a vital tool for organizations navigating these changes. For comprehensive rankings and insights into the most favorable markets for conducting business in today’s dynamic global environment or to request a customized report, visit www.mpgtalentsolutions.com/twi.

ABOUT THE TOTAL WORKFORCE INDEX™
The Total Workforce Index™ (TWI) is the only tool of its kind to assess the relative ease of sourcing, hiring and retaining both contingent and permanent workforce skills in competing labor markets around the world. Now in its 11th year, TWI scores each market on more than 200 unique factors. Each of these statistical factors is carefully weighted and grouped under one of four categories: Availability, Cost Efficiency, Regulation, and Productivity.

The markets that rank highest in the TWI are those with the highest relative performance across all four categories. Markets that perform well have successfully responded to trends, such as remote workforce readiness, building technology infrastructure and closing skills gaps. They have demonstrated market and geopolitical stability, have relatively high gender participation and are skilling emerging workforces to meet changing demographic realities. High-ranking markets also exhibit favorable regulatory environments.

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUP TALENT SOLUTIONS
Talent Solutions combines our leading global offerings RPO, TAPFIN-MSP, and Right Management to help organizations address their complex workforce needs. Talent Solutions leverages our deep industry expertise and understanding of what talent wants to provide end-to-end, data-driven capabilities across the talent lifecycle. From talent attraction and acquisition to upskilling, development, and retention, we provide seamless delivery, leveraging best-in-breed technology, and extensive workforce insights across multiple countries at scale. Talent Solutions is part of the ManpowerGroup® family of brands, which also includes Manpower and Experis.

For more information, visit www.mpgtalentsolutions.com, or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUP
ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing, and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower, Experis, and Talent Solutions – creates substantially more value for candidates and clients across more than 70 countries and territories and has done so for more than 75 years. We are recognized consistently for our diversity – as a best place to work for Women, Inclusion, Equality, and Disability, and in 2024 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the 15th time – all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent.

For more information, visit www.manpowergroup.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and Instagram.