Namibia fails to retain skilled workers
ELLANIE SMIT
Namibia’s struggle to retain skilled and talented workers was highlighted in a global report that measures how countries grow, attract and retain talent.
While the country is ranked highly on being able to attract talented workers, it fails to retain skilled workers.
The country was ranked 73rd on a global index of talent competitiveness, moving up five places since last year.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia was ranked fourth in terms of talent competitiveness.
The 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), produced by INSEAD Business School, benchmarks countries in terms of employment, education, immigration and a wide range of other factors.
Namibia received an overall score of 40.22 this year, improving its previous score of 36.1 the previous year.
The report, which evaluated 132 countries, aims to provide decision-makers across business and government with the tools to drive talent competitiveness.
It specifically suggests that by creating a truly diverse and inclusive corporate culture, companies can gain a competitive advantage that will enable them to not just better attract and retain talent, but create a high-performing workforce.
Ranging from collaboration within organisations and foreign direct investment to the gender pay gap, labour productivity and university rankings, these variables help determine a country's 'talent competitiveness' – the ability to attract, develop and retain skilled workers, thereby supporting productivity and prosperity.
The report also explores the role of diversity as a source for innovation and prosperity in labour markets, finding that countries with greater diversity and inclusion will be best placed to achieve the performance and agility required to innovate, and remain competitive in the fast-paced and evolving global economy.
Of particular note is Namibia’s performance in the main categories in which it was ranked 71st for enabling skill development, 34th for attracting skills, 89th for growing skills, 100th for retaining skills, 66th for vocational and technical training skills and 79th for global knowledge skills.
Some of the reasons for Namibia’s ability to attract a talented workforce are its external openness (48th), internal openness (23rd) and prevalence of foreign ownership (46th).
While Namibia showed a huge improvement in the vocational training ranking, from 101th place the previous year, its ranking for retaining skills dropped from 97th to 100th. This was largely because of poor rankings in sanitation (118th) and lifestyle (104th).
Under the category of global knowledge skills Namibia was ranked poorly for innovation output (100th), workforce with tertiary education (92nd) and availability of scientists and engineers (92nd)
According to the index, Namibia is the fourth best performer in sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to talent competiveness. Mauritius is the top performer in the region (globally 49th), followed by South Africa (70th) and Botswana (71st).
Switzerland, Singapore and the USA were ranked as the top three countries globally, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Yemen were ranked as the worst performers.
Namibia’s struggle to retain skilled and talented workers was highlighted in a global report that measures how countries grow, attract and retain talent.
While the country is ranked highly on being able to attract talented workers, it fails to retain skilled workers.
The country was ranked 73rd on a global index of talent competitiveness, moving up five places since last year.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia was ranked fourth in terms of talent competitiveness.
The 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), produced by INSEAD Business School, benchmarks countries in terms of employment, education, immigration and a wide range of other factors.
Namibia received an overall score of 40.22 this year, improving its previous score of 36.1 the previous year.
The report, which evaluated 132 countries, aims to provide decision-makers across business and government with the tools to drive talent competitiveness.
It specifically suggests that by creating a truly diverse and inclusive corporate culture, companies can gain a competitive advantage that will enable them to not just better attract and retain talent, but create a high-performing workforce.
Ranging from collaboration within organisations and foreign direct investment to the gender pay gap, labour productivity and university rankings, these variables help determine a country's 'talent competitiveness' – the ability to attract, develop and retain skilled workers, thereby supporting productivity and prosperity.
The report also explores the role of diversity as a source for innovation and prosperity in labour markets, finding that countries with greater diversity and inclusion will be best placed to achieve the performance and agility required to innovate, and remain competitive in the fast-paced and evolving global economy.
Of particular note is Namibia’s performance in the main categories in which it was ranked 71st for enabling skill development, 34th for attracting skills, 89th for growing skills, 100th for retaining skills, 66th for vocational and technical training skills and 79th for global knowledge skills.
Some of the reasons for Namibia’s ability to attract a talented workforce are its external openness (48th), internal openness (23rd) and prevalence of foreign ownership (46th).
While Namibia showed a huge improvement in the vocational training ranking, from 101th place the previous year, its ranking for retaining skills dropped from 97th to 100th. This was largely because of poor rankings in sanitation (118th) and lifestyle (104th).
Under the category of global knowledge skills Namibia was ranked poorly for innovation output (100th), workforce with tertiary education (92nd) and availability of scientists and engineers (92nd)
According to the index, Namibia is the fourth best performer in sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to talent competiveness. Mauritius is the top performer in the region (globally 49th), followed by South Africa (70th) and Botswana (71st).
Switzerland, Singapore and the USA were ranked as the top three countries globally, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Yemen were ranked as the worst performers.
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