Talent Mobility Good Practices

The report argues that talent mobility—defined as the physical or professional movement of workers—is a critical driver of economic growth that can remedy skills gaps and unemployment. It identifies four foundational labor market impediments: widespread unemployability, critical skills gaps, information gaps, and public/private constraints on mobility. The central thesis is that collaboration among multiple stakeholders is essential to overcome these issues, as individual actions are often insufficient. The document categorizes collaboration into four levels, ranging from internal organizational efforts (Level 1) to global multistakeholder initiatives (Level 4). It provides a 'Knowledge Bank' of 50 good practices and detailed case studies of high-impact Level 4 collaborations, such as Walmart's training centers in India and Brazil, NASSCOM's industry standards in India, and ASEAN's regional labor integration efforts.

• Talent mobility is defined broadly as the physical movement of workers across organizations, industries, or countries, or the professional movement across occupations and skill sets, including virtual mobility and moving jobs to people.
• Four foundational issues impede the functioning of talent markets: widespread unemployability, critical skills gaps, information gaps, and public and private constraints on mobility.
• Collaboration is the essential core of successful talent mobility practices, as collective action is often the only way to significantly change labor market outcomes.
• The report identifies four levels of collaboration: Level 1 (within an organization), Level 2 (across organizations within a country), Level 3 (industry or regional level), and Level 4 (global or multistakeholder level).
• Walmart implemented Level 4 collaborations in India and Brazil to increase the pool of qualified retail talent, training nearly 8,000 students in India and approximately 1,000 in Brazil during the first year of its Social Retail School.
• NASSCOM in India developed the Assessment of Competence (NAC) to standardize skills assessment for the IT-BPO industry, reducing recruitment costs and providing a certified score for approximately 100,000 college graduates.
• ASEAN member nations are pursuing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, focusing on the free flow of skilled labor through Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) and the development of competency standards in priority sectors like healthcare and tourism.
• The Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA) uses a public-private partnership to enhance the competitiveness of Toronto's financial sector, including the creation of the Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education in 2009.
• Saudi Aramco utilizes a Corporate Manpower Planning Model (CMPM) to forecast talent needs and invests over US$ 10,000 per employee annually in training and development.
• A survey of over 500 organizations in 45 countries revealed that 75% of organizations classify their talent mobility practices as traditional leadership development programs, and 65% move 10% or less of their employees annually.
• In site selection decisions for multinational companies, talent availability is the most critical factor, appearing in over 95% of decisions and carrying a higher average weight (31%) than all cost considerations (28%).

APA

World Economic Forum (2012). Talent Mobility Good Practices. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PS_TalentMobility_Report_2012.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Talent Mobility Good Practices. 2012. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PS_TalentMobility_Report_2012.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Talent Mobility Good Practices |date=2012 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PS_TalentMobility_Report_2012.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2012talent, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Talent Mobility Good Practices}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2012}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PS_TalentMobility_Report_2012.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }