Resilience, adaptability, and talent: three themes that defined the conversation at the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2025 Launch, held at the INSEAD Asia Campus in Singapore.
Now in its eleventh edition, the GTCI—published by INSEAD and Portulans Institute—continues to provide one of the most comprehensive views of how countries cultivate, attract, and retain talent in a rapidly transforming global economy.
Covering 135 economies across 77 indicators, GTCI 2025 uncovers regional patterns, emerging challenges, and evolving priorities among nations striving for talent-driven growth. Under the theme “Resilience in the Age of Disruption,” this edition examines how countries are responding to new pressures, from artificial intelligence and demographic shifts to changing talent mobility, sustainability imperatives, and workplace transformation.
Navigating Disruption with Purpose
The event opened with remarks from Lily Fang (Dean of Research & Innovation, INSEAD), who underscored the importance of the GTCI as a long-term research initiative tracking global talent dynamics over more than a decade. This year’s findings come at a time of maximum disruption, marked by geopolitical tensions, shifting market realities, and rapid technological acceleration.
Building Talent for an AI-Driven Future
Shawn Huang (Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Singapore’s Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Manpower) offered a forward-looking perspective on building and sustaining talent in a time of rapid disruption. He emphasized that for a small nation with limited natural resources, human capital remains Singapore’s most enduring competitive advantage. He outlined three priorities shaping Singapore’s approach:
- Strengthening its position as a global talent hub, attracting diverse expertise while continuing to invest in local talent development.
- Equipping Singaporeans with global exposure and strong soft skills, particularly vital as 77% of the workforce is highly exposed to AI-intensive work.
- Redefining talent development in the age of automation, where adaptability, continuous learning, and the ability to reskill or unlearn become essential.
Huang reinforced that while AI presents challenges, its potential grows when paired with strong human capability.
Key Findings from the GTCI 2025
GTCI Co-editors Felipe Monteiro (GTCI Academic Director and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, INSEAD), Paul Evans (Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD), and Rafael Escalona Reynoso (Director & CEO, Portulans Institute) presented the key results from this year’s report, highlighting significant shifts in the global landscape.
Singapore leads the rankings for the first time, followed by Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and the United States. Europe continues to dominate the top tier, yet regions are evolving along distinct pathways: Northern Europe leads in soft skills and talent retention, the Middle East shows strong momentum in talent attraction, while Southeast Asia stands out for agility and rapid readiness for AI-enabled transformation.
A standout theme from this year’s results is the rise of dynamic talent movers, or economies outperforming expectations by achieving strong talent outcomes with comparatively fewer resources. Countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia are climbing the rankings as they diversify beyond traditional economic models and invest heavily in innovation, education, and workforce skills. Meanwhile, emerging economies across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, including Rwanda, Tajikistan, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Pakistan, are making progress through targeted policies, community-based learning models, and expanding digital inclusion.
These findings underscore an important shift captured in the index: talent competitiveness is no longer determined by economic strength alone, but by how effectively countries convert inputs, such as education systems, policy frameworks, and innovation capacity, into meaningful talent outputs like skills, productivity, and employability. Economies that excel are those making intentional, forward-looking investments in people, institutions, and adaptive workforce strategies. In an era defined by disruption, the nations that prioritize strategic choices, long-term planning, and continuous learning are the ones shaping the global talent landscape.
Beyond the rankings, the report also offers insights on the evolving meaning of resilience. It invites leaders to move past short-term fixes and instead consider how transformative technologies like AI can strengthen human potential and societal progress. True resilience in talent ecosystems is not measured only by how quickly systems recover from shocks, but by their ability to turn disruption into capability, innovation, and renewed purpose.
Talent and Resilience in Asia
An engaging panel discussion explored how Southeast Asia, and the world, can build future-ready, resilient talent ecosystems amid technological disruption, shifting workforce expectations, and increasing global competition for skills. Panelists examined the forces reshaping talent markets, the critical role of AI readiness, and the human elements that will define the future of work. Across the conversation, a common insight emerged: staying competitive requires not only investment in innovation and policy frameworks, but also a commitment to enabling people to continuously learn, grow, and thrive.
Jacqueline Poh (Chief Executive Officer, JTC Corporation), highlighted the attributes that make a country a true global talent leader. Beyond job creation, she emphasized employability, retention, and the ability to attract diverse, high-skilled individuals as key indicators of success. Trust and long-term policy stability enable confidence, while a diversified economic landscape creates opportunities across sectors. Livability, including safety, healthcare, and access to a vibrant experience economy, plays an increasingly important role in where talent chooses to work and build a life. She also pointed to initiatives such as Singapore’s ONE Pass and Tech Pass, alongside a strong culture of lifelong learning, as essential tools for remaining competitive and adaptive.
Sagar Goel (Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group and Global Insights Leader at the BCG Henderson Institute), provided a regional perspective on talent trends in Asia. Despite higher fears of AI-driven disruption, the region is also adopting AI faster than many global peers. Only a small fraction of companies are unlocking meaningful value from AI, and those that succeed do so by pairing technology upgrades with workforce transformation and new pathways for career mobility. With more than 90% of Asia’s workforce employed in SMEs, he underscored that public-private collaboration will be essential to scaling these capabilities. As economies mature, he noted, the challenge becomes enabling not just first careers, but second and third ones.
Winnie Jiang (Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour and The Goltz Fellowship in Business & Society, INSEAD), brought the conversation back to the individual level, focusing on resilience. She emphasized that in a world defined by uncertainty and constant change, resilience is not simply about recovery, but about adaptation and reinvention. Jiang highlighted the connection between identity and resilience: individuals who find meaning in their work and maintain a strong sense of purpose are better positioned to navigate transitions, embrace change, and continue learning throughout their careers.
The event concluded with remarks from Sameer Hasija (Dean of Executive Education & Dean of the Asia Campus, INSEAD), who emphasized the importance of the GTCI as a global learning tool. He noted that beyond benchmarking, the report enables leaders to study best practices, understand what drives strong talent systems, and apply these insights within their own contexts. In a rapidly changing world, shared learning and continuous adaptation will be key to shaping resilient, future-ready talent ecosystems.
Download the GTCI 2025 report: www.globaltalentcompetitivenessindex.org/
Explore the country briefs: www.globaltalentcompetitivenessindex.org/countries/
Read the press release: www.insead.edu/articles/newsroom/
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