Brain drain has limited impact in UAE

Talented employees are found at all levels in the UAE.

Dubai - Nationa performs well in several indicators, including emphasis to employee training and availability of competent senior managers and with international experience

By Waheed Abbas

Published: Sat 23 Nov 2019, 7:05 PM

Last updated: Mon 25 Nov 2019, 9:13 AM

The UAE is experiencing limited impact from brain drain despite a slowdown in the global economy as the country enjoys an availability of competent senior managers from international experience perspective, according to the latest IMD World Talent Report.
"The UAE performs well in several indicators including emphasis to employee training [fourth], implementation of apprenticeship schemes [fourth], the limited impact of brain drain [first] and the availability of competent senior managers and with international experience [first in both]," said Jose Caballero, senior economist at IMD's World Competitiveness Centre.
The index takes into consideration three main aspects - investment and development; appeal; and readiness. The main aspects cover 30 sub-indices.
Overall, the UAE's ranking dropped four places to 30th position while Qatar fell to 26th position. Saudi Arabia, which has started opening up its economy to foreigners, became more appealing as its ranking improved to 29th position on the back of advancements in the investment and development (28th) and readiness (22nd) factors.
The UAE's rating declined due to decreases in the appeal (12th) and readiness (13th) factors.
"Its performance in several indicators also contributed to the decline in the overall talent ranking. In appeal, it slightly declined in the attractiveness to foreign highly-skilled personnel [fifth] and it ranked low in measures of pollution [57th]," Caballero added.
"In readiness, the country's performance in the percentage of graduates in sciences [37th] and the PISA assessment [46th], seems weak. Under investment and development [53rd], total public expenditure on education ranks at 62nd, the female percentage of total labour force at 60th and the pupil-teacher ratio in primary education places at 57th."
Replying to a query on measures that the UAE should take to improve its ranking and attractiveness, he said areas of improvement include public expenditure on education (62nd as percentage of GDP and 32nd per student), the quality of the education system as reflected in the pupil-teacher ratio in primary school (57th) and PISA educational assessment (46th).
"Measures of pollution can also be tackled [57th] as well as the equality of life that it offers [13th]," Caballero added.
Globally, Switzerland retained its title as the world's top talent hub in the sixth edition of the IMD World Talent Ranking. Denmark was second-placed while Sweden jumped five spots to third place. The top 10 was completed by Austria at fourth followed by Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Finland, the Netherlands and Singapore.
Outside the top 10, the biggest climbers were Taiwan, China (20th), Lithuania (28th), the Philippines (49th) and Colombia (54th).
- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com