Commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Future Place Leadership (FPL) worked alongside Menon Economics and Advokatfirmaet Lund & Co to produce the report “Foreign Research Competence in Norway – An assessment of opportunities and barriers to attracting and retaining highly qualified foreign researchers in Norway”.

In this project, Future Place Leadership was responsible for analysing Norway’s ecosystem for international talent, with a specific focus on researchers, PhD candidates and STEM master’s students. The work included:

• Mapping national, regional and local initiatives related to attraction, reception and integration

• Identifying key ecosystem actors that play a role in strengthening Norway’s position as a research and career destination and to facilitate both reception and integration

• Analysing opportunities for stronger coordination and long-term governance based on the TAM Wheel (Talent Attraction Management) – a model developed by FPL and currently used at national level in both Sweden and Finland

As part of the assignment, FPL also conducted international benchmark studies in Singapore, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, identifying best practices, governance models and concrete initiatives that have delivered strong results in attracting and retaining international research talent.

Key insights

Among other findings, the report highlights that:

• Foreign nationals account for a growing share of Norway’s R&D workforce, underlining the increasing importance of international talent for the country’s research and innovation capacity.

• Norway performs relatively well in attracting and educating international researchers, but faces clear challenges when it comes to long-term retention. Similar patterns can be observed in many other countries.

• International competition for experienced and leading researchers is intensifying. In recent years, many countries have committed substantial funding to attract top international researchers—particularly following significant cuts to research funding in the United States. Economic incentives have proven to be an effective policy tool in this context.

• As a result, well-functioning ecosystems for attracting, welcoming and retaining international talent are becoming increasingly critical. A coordinated and well-organised system for attraction, reception and long-term integration emerges as a key success factor.

• Norway, like several other countries, faces challenges in matching researchers with private-sector employers, limiting career opportunities for international researchers and increasing the risk of losing valuable talent for innovation. Countries with established programmes that facilitate collaboration and career pathways between academia and employers tend to be more successful in retaining international talent.

Based on the analysis, the report proposes several measures to strengthen Norway’s long-term capacity to attract, integrate and retain international research talent, and to position the country as an attractive and sustainable career destination. 

Read press release from the Norwegian government:

https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/nar-halvparten-av-utenlandske-forskere-forlater-norge-etter-endt-doktorgrad/id3146807/?expand=factbox3146809

Download the report here.
Report – International researchers in Norway

The post New report highlights opportunities and barriers for international researchers in Norway first appeared on Future Place Leadership.

We are excited about the latest special editions of our Talent City Index portfolio. Latest, we have measured the attractiveness of Swedish lifestyle regions:

• What is Sweden’s most attractive lifestyle region?
• The most family-friendly?
• Sustainable?
  Creative and innovative?
• How can we get more people to move to the countryside?

The survey clearly shows that Swedes dream of a life outside the big cities. At the same time, people are not lining up to move to the countryside. This means that we have to ask ourselves the question: why do we dream about one thing but do something else? Our conclusion, which we can partially see in the survey, is that many people have preconceived notions about what job and career opportunities are available outside the larger cities. It is therefore important for many regions to highlight the exciting and qualified jobs available in order to attract the target group to dare to move.” says Marcus Andersson, CEO, Future Place Leadership.

The new survey “Talent City Index – lifestyle regions”, produced by Future Place Leadership, shows that close to a third of Swedes want to live in the countryside in the future. That is 2.5 times more than the 12% who state that they live in the countryside today.

Also 27% state that they want to live near the sea, which is more than four times more than the 6% who state that they live that way today. Likewise, there is a desire to live near a lake according to 15% of respondents, which is three times more than the 5% who live that way today.

The survey also shows that almost 60% of the respondents want to live in a villa. Second most popular was living on a farm – where every fourth person asked would most of all like to live on a farm.

In the ranking of lifestyle regions, we have also included larger and attractive cities in Sweden as comparison points. One conclusion we can draw from the results is that what we call lifestyle regions in this report are generally considered to be more attractive places than the cities.

Download report

You can get access to the report here (In Swedish).

Get in touch

For now the report is about Sweden and in Swedish only, but contact us if we should do a similar initiative in your region

About the survey

The survey is based on the Talent City Index methodology and is a special edition with a focus on where those people who has skills within major labor market shortages and aged 20–55 want to live. The regular edition Talent City Index Sweden 2024 (TCI 2024) was launched in August 2024, for the second year in a row, and measures the attractiveness of 75 Swedish municipalities. Read more about TCI Sweden 2024 here: https://www.talentcityindex.com

The survey on lifestyle regions is carried out by Future Place Leadership in collaboration with six Swedish regions as well as self-governing, Swedish-speaking Åland (Finland). The seven regions are High Coast, Gotland, Skaraborg, Värmland, Hälsingland, Jämtland Härjedalen and Åland, where Jämtland Härjedalen is measured as two separate lifestyle regions in the survey. The ranking also includes a number of municipalities, which serve as points of comparison to be able to assess the relative strength of the attractiveness of the lifestyle regions. A total of 38 locations are compared and ranked in the survey.

The post Special Talent City Index Edition: The Attractiveness of Lifestyle Regions in Sweden first appeared on Future Place Leadership.

On June27 – for the second year in a row- we launched the results from the Talent City Index Sweden, which ranks the most attractive cities to work and live in for students and professionals in key shortage areas. The launch took place in Almedalen at the Greater Örebro Arena. 

Now we know that Gothenburg actually retains its top position as Sweden’s most attractive city, ahead of the capital, even if Stockholm is closing in somewhat. Skåne takes the top spot as Sweden’s most attractive county based on the ranking of its cities.

A selection of insights:  

• Gothenburg wins the three categories as the most family-friendly place, the best quality of life and the most sustainable. Stockholm wins in the four categories the most creative and innovative place, the most vibrant, the most beautiful and the best place to start a business.
• The most important driving force in Sweden to move is continued lifestyle, where it is above all a family-friendly, close to nature and sustainable lifestyle that attracts. The job offer and career opportunities come out as the next most important driver to move, which may reflect that the recession has continued to deepen since the last survey a year ago. A safer environment as well as the importance of housing prices have climbed the list of moving factors
• When it comes to job-related drivers to move, “Work-life balance” is by far the most important factor, followed by the salary level of employers in the location and opportunities to choose between different jobs in the location. Opportunities to contribute to the local community take fifth place, out of a total of 11 factors.

The report is full of insights and data that make you as a municipality or region sharper in both your marketing and your development efforts to attract skills in the area of shortage. The data will also be able to help you as an employer with operations in several locations to take advantage of the location’s strengths when you attract labor – and you as a real estate operator to make important investment decisions.

Are you interested in receiving a more in-depth analysis? We can create a custom version for you.

We offer: 

1. The city report that clarifies your city’s position and attraction profile
2. The regional report with more detailed data for the entire county, including all cities measured in the county
3. The comparative report for those who want to be able to compare the attractiveness of several locations in Sweden.

More information about the content and price of the reports is available on the Talent City Index website.

You can also download the report here.

For those of you who order the report before July 15, we can offer a 20% discount.

For more information or to order an in-depth report, please email ma@futureplaceleadership.com.

The post Talent City Index Sweden 2024 is launched – Gothenburg beats Stockholm … (again) first appeared on Future Place Leadership.

Where would today’s and tomorrow’s qualified workforce prefer to work and live?

It is a question that many municipalities, regions, investors and employers are asking themselves – now that talent shortage is greater than ever throughout many industries.

The Talent City Index report was created to to investigate and benchmark how cities rank against each other in the fierce competition for skilled workforce, to be used as a tool and guidance to improve a city’s attractiveness and retention power.

Download the report for free both in Finnish and Swedish, English version coming soon!

Differences between Finns and Swedes was the hot topic

At the launch event of the report in Helsinki last week, the biggest interest among the people in the room, particularly among the media, was around the differences between the Swedish and Finnish results. Comparison between countries is something that always intrigues people, and there are plans in place to benchmark trends and patterns between countries once more markets have been launched (psst! Germany, Norway, Netherlands and the UK are in the books).

For your convenience, we gathered some of the most interesting differences between the Finnish and Swedish learnings. You may do what you like with the intel.

✅ In Finland, career opportunities and job availability are the most important drivers to move, which is different to Sweden, where life-style is equally, if not more, important.

✅ In Sweden, the coastal cities ranked the highest in attractiveness and retention power, whereas in Finland inland cities were ranking high in the survey. Interestingly enough, Swedish speaking coastal cities were losing residents and were perhaps suffering from lack of awareness among target audience

✅ It is obvious that there is a strong business cluster in and around Helsinki. Helsinki and Espoo are #1 and 2 on the list for people working in business and economics, also among students where Helsinki is dominating. Also Executives prefer Helsinki and Espoo. In Sweden the results were more spread out among the biggest cities.

✅ Tampere is ranking highest in more lifestyle oriented categories though (quality of life, family friendly, safe, sustainable). Jyväskylä also performs well in the more life style oriented categories. Gothenburg ranked the highest in all categories in Sweden, outranking the capital of Stockholm altogether!

✅ A huge surprise from the Finnish results came out within the freelancer category; freelancers are usually more flexible to work remote, and in Sweden we could see many smaller coastal cities ranking high among freelancers, but in Finland, the freelancers ranked the largest cities in Finland highest, similar to the general ranking, with exception for Hyvinkää in top 10 for freelancers.

✅ Municipalities with proximity to larger cities performed really well in the Finnish ranking. That indicates that people are searching for smaller municipalities to live in, with more nature and lower housing and living costs, but still with the proximity to larger cities.

✅ In Sweden it was mainly IT & data specialists and engineers who were most prone to move, while teachers and people in the health care sector were less prone. In Finland we could almost see the opposite, with teachers and medical specialists among those who were more prone to move, and engineers less prone.

✅ The Swedish speaking parts of Finland seem to have a challenge to attract people from the whole of Finland. For example, there is the biggest energy cluster in the Nordics set up in Vaasa, but Vaasa is only ranked number 17 in general ranking, and not in top 10 among engineers. What could be improved to make Vaasa more attractive, and to retain that specific set of people needed there for growth?

Download the report for free both in Finnish and Swedish

The post ‘Finns Prioritise Career While Swedes Chase Lifestyle’ – New Report Out Now first appeared on Future Place Leadership.

Other markets to follow later this autumn, we’ll reveal which ones very soon.

What is Talent City Index report

Where would today’s and tomorrow’s qualified workforce prefer to work and live?

It is a question that many municipalities, regions, investors and employers are asking themselves – now that talent shortage is greater than ever throughout many industries.

We created the Talent City Index report to investigate and benchmark how cities rank against each other in the fierce competition for skilled workforce, to be used as a tool and guidance to improve a city’s attractiveness and retention power.

The first edition concentrated on Sweden, and it was published in Swedish. However, you can now download the report in English as well. It will give you a pretty good idea on the kind of data and learnings the report sheds light on.

Download English version of the Swedish report here.

Some interesting picks from the Swedish report:

• Gothenburg beats Stockholm as Sweden’s most attractive city! Gothenburg took 1st place in perceived attractiveness overtaking the capital. We see this trend in other countries as well; people leaving the capital en masse or choosing not to move there in the first place. Why is this?
• The search for safety – Stockholmers are looking for a new place to live for safety’s sake, despite higher wages in the capital.
• Cost of living – This is hardly a surprising one. Many want to use their hard-earned income in other things than just rent/mortgage.
• Three biggest driving forces for leaving the capital
  – Lifestyle changes
  – Security
  – Proximity to nature
• Non-capital cities are harvesting the benefits of this shift of the mindset. These cities are associated with career opportunities and job supply, but which are also seen as more secure and closer to nature. In Sweden’s case particularly Gothenburg and Uppsala.

And also…

• Places with the greatest risk of losing residents in the next five-year period, Blekinge ranks highest, followed by Malmö in second place
• Self-employed people and freelancers generally look for smaller municipalities such as Gotland, Falkenberg, Enköping and Eskilstuna
• People in IT and engineering rank career opportunities within a region as the most important attraction factor, while economists and those in healthcare rank lifestyle factors the highest
• Cities such as Umeå, Skellefteå, Sundsvall and Örnsköldsvik underperform in relation to their size, which indicates that northern Sweden will face major challenges in attracting new residents

How is skilled workforce perceiving the cities and municipalities of Finland?

The Finnish version of the report will launch with bells and whistles in November. Would you like to be one of the first ones to see the free report? Sign up for the mailing list and you will receive an invitation to the launch event where we walk you through the findings, answer any questions you may have and discuss together in what ways can we improve the attractiveness of your city/municipality based on the fresh-out-the-oven data.

Questions? Get in touch!

Marcus Andersson

ma@futureplaceleadership.com

+46 70 86 73 634

The post Teaser: Talent City Index Goes Finland! first appeared on Future Place Leadership.

In a unique partnership with  Linköping Science Park, our industry friends at Placebrander and graphic design by Söderhavet, Future Place Leadership has conducted the main research for the newly launched The Insiders Guide to Moving and Living in Sweden.

Background:  

The project follows our initial Switch to Sweden engagement with a data driven approach to understanding the challenges for international students who enter the Swedish labour market. (Hint check here). One of the main conclusions from the study was the need to start looking at retention of international talent, the moment they arrive, not when they graduate. And then optimise the soft landing into the Swedish society, culture and business world from day one.

The guide seeks to provide a foundation for just that with an introduction to Sweden and the people with a DNA built by the freedom to roam and digitalisation. The numbers, the traditions and the food. Swedish history, all international talents need to know about the sustainable identity of Sweden and how to integrate socially, professionally and culturally.

What’s happening next/What value does this have for you:  

The purpose of this guide (both in print and digital) is to support international talent who are thinking about choosing Sweden as a place to live and start their career. To give tangible advice, to answer questions, to be realistic, and most of all – to actually be useful!

The book is divided into two parts – 1. Sweden essentials and 2. A local guide for your city. If you are a Swedish city/region/hub and could benefit from a local version, get in touch with Morten and we’ll help you out. Currently similar project is underway with our partners at Electrification Hub in Västerås.

Download your free version of the guide here!

The post Fresh out the oven! “The Insiders Guide to Moving and Living in Sweden” first appeared on Future Place Leadership.