Romania went down nine places in the 2018 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), which ranks countries and major cities on their ability to attract, develop and retain talent.

Romania ranks 64^th out of 119 surveyed countries, down from the 55^th spot it held the previous year. The ranking was achieved based on six pillars: enabling, attracting, growing and retaining talent, vocational and technical skills, and global knowledge skills.

A variety of criteria build up to each pillar, and they cover business-government relations, ease of doing business, R&D expenditure, ease of hiring, labor market policies, brain gain, employee development, and gender earning gaps, among others.

While the country is doing better on retaining talent, it fares less well on its ability to support employee development.

In the region, Romania ranks behind the Czech Republic (25^th spot), Slovenia (28^th), Bulgaria (47^th), Hungary (52^nd) and Ukraine (61^st). Switzerland, Singapore and the United States take up the first three positions in the index.

Meanwhile, Bucharest ranks 68^th out of 90 cities on its ability to grow, attract and retain talent. The only Romanian city in the ranking is surpassed by Prague (25^th), Budapest (41^st), Sofia (63^rd) and Belgrade (64^th). Zurich, Stockholm and Oslo lead the ranking of cities.

The index was developed by INSEAD, the Adecco Group and TATA Communications.

Romania drops in world ranking for its ability to retain talent

editor@romania-insider.com