Ireland scores top marks as global talent hub - but not for gender equality

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Shawn Pogatchnik

Ireland is among the world’s best countries for attracting skilled talent – but a laggard when it comes to gender equality and opportunities for women, according to a new report.

The Global Talent Competitiveness Index published by Swiss-based recruitment firm Adecco says Dublin in particular has surged as a hub for top business talent, rising from 35th place in 2019 to 13th spot today.

Ireland as a whole rose one notch to 15th place, overtaking New Zealand in a 132-nation field.

Thirteen of the top 20 countries are in Europe, where Ireland trails Switzerland (1), Sweden (4), Denmark (5), Netherlands (6), Finland (7), Luxembourg (8), Norway (9), Germany (11), the UK (12) and Iceland (14).

But the US dominates when measuring the talent attractiveness of cities. New York is in first place, San Francisco fourth, Boston fifth and Los Angeles ninth. London (2nd) and Singapore (3rd) round out the top five of 155 cities rated.

Ireland scores well in its ability to attract, retain, train and educate skilled workers. It is rated best in the world at winning foreign direct investment and technology transfer - as evidenced by the more than 1,550 multinationals based here. It ranks 7th worldwide in the proportion of foreign-owned businesses, and 14th in its ability to recruit the world’s top students here.

The State also rates highly for economic openness, its pool of vocational and technical talent, and its ability to match labour supply to market demand.

Its lowest scores reflect women’s role in the workplace. The report found that Ireland rates only 47th in reducing the gap in employment and pay between men and women. And it sinks to 82nd place on the percentage of university graduates who are women.

Those ratings on women’s educational and work opportunities rate North America and most of Europe as less favourable than the equality standards of top-scoring Qatar, Mongolia, Tunisia, Panama, the Dominican Republic and the Baltics.

The report said Ireland’s score as a “talent hub” would improve if it could boost its scores on women’s uptake of university places and jobs.

“The area where Ireland always excels in is in attracting overseas business, which fuels a spirit of entrepreneurship as well as employment opportunities,” said Alex Fleming, president and country head of the Adecco Group in the UK and Ireland.

He said Ireland could raise its rank “as a talent magnet. But to get there, Ireland will need to improve its performance on gender equality and the hiring of female graduates.”