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Introduction
The eighth edition of Global Talent Competitiveness Index – GTCI – 2021 has been published. This year it has been co-produced by INSEAD, France, and Portulans Institute, a think-tank based in Washington, DC, and Geneva.
GTCI measures talent along set parameters in various countries of the world, which more or less remain the same. In the 2021 report, 134 countries are included. The complete report has 328 pages and those interested may follow the link at the end to see the full report.
Analysis of Findings … Continued from Previous
We shall analyze Pakistan alone and vis-à-vis our neighbors.
Table 1
| Country | GTCI Ranking | Enable | Attract | Grow | Retain | VT Skills | GK Skills |
| Turkey | 76 | 75 | 119 | 42 | 79 | 95 | 57 |
| India | 88 | 69 | 121 | 71 | 95 | 99 | 58 |
| Iran | 100 | 116 | 133 | 77 | 104 | 91 | 68 |
| Pakistan | 107 | 109 | 120 | 86 | 111 | 108 | 95 |
| Bangladesh | 123 | 119 | 127 | 123 | 114 | 116 | 128 |
Note. The higher number denotes lower standing
- Business and Labor landscape – India is on top at #54, followed by Pakistan at #92. Iran is at the bottom at #129. It shows that the labor required to do a business is usually available, but it is only labor. Secondly, the next parameter shows that labor rights are not good in any of the five countries; Pakistan is at #91. We know firsthand that the regulations regarding minimum wage, and benefits like social security – ESSI, and Employees Old age Benefits Institution – EOBI are almost always missing. Third sub-parameter of labor-employer relationship is also poor in all countries; Pakistan is at #114, BD at #93, and India at #86. Iran is at the bottom with #125. This is in line with the argument above.
- Professional management is the other level of business landscape, and India tops the list at #48. India is exporting professional managers to several countries while Pakistan is exporting skilled and unskilled labor. Iran is at the bottom at #126. Pakistan is at #90; we develop professional managers, but the number is small, and the quality is not good enough to compete globally.
- Another interesting parameter is the relationship of pay to productivity. India tops at #62, closely followed by Pakistan at #69. It shows that the relationship is linear, the productivity increases with the pay. However, pay gap between lowest and highest rank in the corporates is serious in both countries. Turkey and BD are in close vicinity, but Iran is at the bottom at #123.
- Technology utilization, as expected, is the highest in India at #50. Pakistan is third at #73, after Turkey. BD is further down at #81 while Iran is the lowest at #118. Pakistan lags in the use of technology because our skilled workers still rely more on manual labor. In the offices, lot of middle-aged and young people are not familiar and comfortable with technology. Technology is not just using WhatsApp; it is much more than that.
- Paradoxically, investment in emerging technologies is good at #48, second to India at #26. Turkey is surprisingly at the bottom at #113; Iran and BD are near the bottom. We need to understand this anomaly. Technology utilization is a mass-level activity where we are weaker; investment in emerging technologies is from that small group who understands its value and are investing in it heavily.
- As far firms with websites, all are at similar level, except BD which is much behind. Many young people are developing websites at low cost and therefore many businesses opt to get at least a static website made. The big issue is that most of these sites are not updated on regular basis. The information is incorrect or old, and the phone contacts are not working. These are small issues and can be handled easily. Many businesses in Pakistan are totally dependent on web developers who fleece them and sometimes cheat them.
This completes the discussion on the First Pillar of Input – Enable
Take Home from the Discussion on the First Pillar of Input
Enabling means that the country has the market, labor force, technology, learning, skill development opportunity, government policies, regulations and law and order to support it.
Pakistan fares the best in investment on emerging technologies, and the worst in political stability, and we know from everyday experience.
Enable – has three sub-pillars: Regulatory Landscape, Market Landscape, and Business & Labor Landscape. Our performance is quite poor in the first, somewhat better in the second and still better in the third one.
Our government and its many departments dealing with the regulations and policies need to work diligently in these areas so that our talent competitiveness improves.
To be Continued…….
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