2012 Global Talent Index Highlights
Talent is critical to Boston s economic future, and to the future of metropolitan regions around the world. Of all the factors driving economic growth, none is more important than talent. Talent drives the competitiveness of metropolitan regions. With a strong pool of talent, these regions can thrive and grow. Without it, they will languish economically, with negative impacts that ripple far beyond the bottom line. How do global and domestic regions effectively compare the quality of their talent? The Global Talent Index provides an answer.
Method The Global Talent Index compares the 15 largest metropolitan areas in the United States and 15 major international capitals by combining subindexes from three talent-related metrics university academic performance, college degrees, and patents to generate an overall index and rankings. Regions in the United States were selected on the basis of population. International regions were selected on the basis of size and global prominence, resulting in the inclusion of major capitals from both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Data series for each of the three metrics were indexed on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing the highestperforming region, averaged together to produce a Global Talent Index score. Index scores measure the strength of, and innovation generated by, each region s talent pool. More details on data sources and methodology are available in the full version of the Global Talent Index white paper. The white paper, as well as this summary, can be downloaded at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce website at: bostonchamber.com.
Educate University metric: Measures a region s ability to develop talent by ranking collective academic performance. Graduate College degree metric: Measures education levels of a region s current talent pool. Innovate Patent metric: Measures one of the most important outputs of a region s talent pool the ideas and innovations it generates.
Global 100 Educate Talent Index 100 100 Graduate Innovate 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Boston 69.93 88.9, 85.67, 35.21 London 65.09 100, 93.27, 1.99 Beijing 63.35 29.7, 60.32, 100 San Francisco 61.04 28.3, 86.55, 68.24 Paris 56.60 88.2, 76.61, 5.02 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Tokyo 49.62 68.9, 59.36, 20.6 New York 48.64 70.7, 64.91, 10.94 Washington, DC 42.11 18.1, 96.78, 11.39 Los Angeles 39.94 55.1, 50.58, 14.16 Chicago 39.91 49.2, 59.36, 11.20 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Seattle 38.86 15.9, 68.13, 32.58 Stockholm 38.68 25.8, 84.21, 6.03 Oslo 37.95 11.3, 100, 2.55 Singapore 37.38 26.3, 39.85, 45.96 Hong Kong 35.63 62.5, 42.78, 1.65
Boston ranks first in the Global Talent Index, followed closely by London, Beijing, and San Francisco, all of which have scores above 60. Boston s strong performance in each of the three metrics generated its overall first-place ranking, although it did not place first in any of the three metrics. Similarly, San Francisco and Paris did not finish first in any metric but were strong in all three categories. No region came close to a perfect 100 score, which could only be attained if a region placed first in all three metrics. But the fact that the highest score was 69.9 indicates that regions around the world can do more to strengthen their talent pools and increase the rate of innovation that comes from skilled workers generating new ideas. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Atlanta 33.68 30, 59.65, 11.35 Philadelphia 31.82 25.7, 57.02, 12.77 Berlin 30.74 25.8, 64.33, 2.10 Madrid 29.74 8.7, 79.53, 1 Toronto 27.67 24.6, 52.13, 6.25 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. Houston 26.38 22.8, 42.98, 13.37 Vancouver 23.20 22.4, 40.94, 6.22 Sydney 23.07 43.8, 18.42, 7.04 Dallas 22.67 4.7, 50.88, 12.47 Shanghai 22.47 40.1, 26.32, 1 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Detroit 19.91 1, 39.77, 18.95 Phoenix 19.31 6.9, 39.47, 11.54 Miami 18.43 6.9, 42.11, 6.25 Riverside, CA 8.79 6, 16.96, 3.37 Milan 8.01 20.3, 1, 2.73
Educate The collective academic performance of the universities in a region measures each region s ability to develop talent. Subindex scores below reflect the performance of the 30 regions relative to each other. U.S. Cities International Cities 1. London 100 2. Boston 88.9 3. Paris 88.2 4. New York 70.7 5. Tokyo 68.9 6. Hong Kong 62.5 7. Los Angeles 55.1 8. Chicago 49.2 9. Sydney 43.8 10. Shanghai 40.1 11. Atlanta 30 12. Beijing 29.7 13. San Francisco 28.3 14. Singapore 26.3 15. Stockholm 25.8 16. Berlin 25.8 17. Philadelphia 25.7 18. Toronto 24.6 19. Houston 22.8 20. Vancouver 22.4 21. Milan 20.3 22. Washington, DC 18.1 23. Seattle 15.9 24. Oslo 11.3 25. Madrid 8.7 26. Miami 6.9 27. Phoenix 6.9 28. Riverside, CA 6 29. Dallas 4.7 30. Detroit 1 This metric uses data from two comprehensive studies of universities around the world, each of which ranks the top 500 institutions worldwide, using a method outlined in the full white paper. Universities and colleges play a powerful role in developing a region s talent pool, not only by providing students with an education, but by drawing students to the region to attend those institutions in the first place. Strong educational institutions have a second, powerful impact on a region s economy: they generate new ideas that turn into new companies and new jobs.
London s top score derives from 10 well-established area universities, with University College, London holding the highest score. American regions secured several of the high-ranking spots in this metric. Boston ranks second internationally and first nationally in this metric, with an index score of 88.9. Boston benefits greatly from the presence of over 70 universities and colleges that attract students from around the world.
Graduate The proportion of the population with a bachelor s degree or higher provides a direct measurement of talent in each region. Subindex scores below reflect the performance of the 30 regions relative to each other. U.S. Cities International Cities 1. Oslo 100 2. Washington, DC 96.78 3. London 93.27 4. San Francisco 86.55 5. Boston 85.67 6. Stockholm 84.21 7. Madrid 79.53 8. Paris 76.61 9. Seattle 68.13 10. New York 64.91 11. Berlin 64.33 12. Beijing 60.32 13. Atlanta 59.65 14. Chicago 59.36 15. Tokyo 59.36 16. Philadelphia 57.02 17. Toronto 52.13 18. Dallas 50.88 19. Los Angeles 50.58 20. Houston 42.98 21. Hong Kong 42.78 22. Miami 42.11 23. Vancouver 40.94 24. Singapore 39.85 25. Detroit 39.77 26. Phoenix 39.47 27. Shanghai 26.32 28. Sydney 18.42 29. Riverside, CA 16.96 30. Milan 1 This metric reflects government data from the US Census Bureau, Eurostat, and individual Far Eastern countries. It includes residents with bachelor s, master s, PhD, or other, higher degrees. Residents holding those degrees are critical to the growth and development of companies in each region. Whether they work in roles that are managerial, technical, or entrepreneurial, they generate the ideas and provide the leadership that power economic growth.
The top-ranked region is Oslo, with 47.9% of its residents ages 25 and older having at least a bachelor s degree. Stockholm also receives a high ranking (sixth, at 42.5%). Those percentages are not surprising; Scandinavian countries provide strong financial support for education. Moving down the rankings, there are few significant differences in the percentages from one ranked region to the next. However, the percentage difference between the highest-ranked (Oslo) and lowestranked (Milan) regions is substantial, at 34.2%. Four of the 10 lowestranked regions are American. Boston ranks fifth internationally and third nationally in this metric, with 43.0% of the population over 25 holding a bachelor s or higher degree.
Innovate The number of patents granted per capita measures the innovation produced by the talent pool in each region. Subindex scores below reflect the performance of the 30 regions relative to each other. U.S. Cities International Cities 1. Beijing 100 2. San Francisco 68.24 3. Singapore 45.96 4. Boston 35.21 5. Seattle 32.58 6. Tokyo 20.60 7. Detroit 18.95 8. Los Angeles 14.16 9. Houston 13.37 10. Philadelphia 12.77 11. Dallas 12.47 12. Phoenix 11.54 13. Washington, DC 11.39 14. Atlanta 11.35 15. Chicago 11.20 16. New York 10.94 17. Sydney 7.04 18. Toronto 6.25 19. Miami 6.25 20. Vancouver 6.22 21. Stockholm 6.03 22. Paris 5.02 23. Riverside, CA 3.37 24. Milan 2.73 25. Oslo 2.55 26. Berlin 2.10 27. London 1.99 28. Hong Kong 1.65 29. Madrid 1 30. Shanghai 1 This metric incorporates data from the US Government and international patent organizations on utility patents. The vast majority of patents issued are utility patents. Utility, more commonly known as usefulness, is a requirement that must be met for a patent to be granted. A patent application for a purely hypothetical device would be denied.
Beijing tops the list with 268.1 patents per 100,000 people. World Intellectual Property Organization s data indicates that patent activity in China has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. It now has the third-highest number of patent applications per year in the world, behind the United States and Japan. Seattle s ranking is driven by the work of its largest employers, including Microsoft and Boeing. Of the American regions with low rankings in the first two metrics, only Riverside (10.1) is in the bottom 10 of the patent metric. London has the fourth-lowest patent ranking, and Oslo the sixthlowest, despite being ranked highly in the first two metrics. Boston ranks fourth internationally and second nationally in this metric, followed by Seattle, Tokyo, and Detroit. Boston s ranking is based on its mix of innovation-based leading industries, including technology, health care, and higher education.
Recommendations Boston s Index scores reinforce the region s reputation as a talent leader. But that position is not assured going forward, and it will erode if Boston does not work to strengthen it. Enact legislation making state matching funds available for university-based research initiatives. State leaders are considering legislation making $50M of capital funds available for matching grants, to be used by universities and research institutions in pursuing major federal and private R&D funding for the Commonwealth. Increase retention of graduates via experience-based internships and H-1B skilled worker visa reform. While the region retains half of its students upon graduation, half leave for other regions, with studies showing that the primary driver of these departures is job availability. Secure a satellite office of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in Boston. Such a facility would help speed the processing of the region s patents resulting in faster time-to-market for the medical and technological breakthroughs that are developed in the region.
The regions that will win the 21st century talent competition are those that will do the best job of making their colleges and universities even stronger academically, developing and attracting degree holders, and accelerating the rate at which ideas turn into patents and new companies.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has created the Global Talent Index to assess major regions talent pools and the innovation they foster. The Chamber welcomes comments on the Global Talent Index and suggestions regarding future editions. The full white paper, as well as this summary, can be downloaded at: bostonchamber.com The Chamber acknowledges PwC and Bentley University s Center for Marketing Technology for their contributions to the Global Talent Index including assistance with the research, and Hill Holliday for its creative contributions. Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce 265 Franklin Street, 12th Floor Boston, MA 02110 617-227-4500 www.bostonchamber.com Designed by Hill Holliday