Ghana adjudged one of the world's least attractive places to work

This is eptiomized by the high levels of migration amongst the country's medical workforce.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. The report remains the most comprehensive assessment of national competitiveness worldwide, providing a platform for dialogue between government, business and civil society about the actions required to improve economic prosperity. Competitiveness is defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity that can be earned by an economy.

The Global Competitiveness Report, ranks all countries in the world based on their ability to retain and attract smart brains into their labour force on a scale of 1 to 7 for each parameter. With the least attractive being closer to one, and the most attractive closer seven.

A careful analysis of the the 2014-2015 report clearly shows the difference between Switzerland who have been ranked tops as the most attractive place to work for the 6th consecutive year and Ghana who is one of the least attractive places to work.

Ghana Versus Switzerland

The country ranks in the top 10 of eight pillars. Switzerland’s topnotch academic institutions, high spending on R&D, and strong cooperation between the academic and business worlds contribute to making it a top innovator. Switzerland boasts the highest number of Patent Cooperation Treaty applications per capita in the world.

The sophistication of companies that operate at the highest end of the value chain constitutes another notable strength (2nd). Productivity is further enhanced by an excellent education system and a business sector that offers excellent on-the-job-training opportunities. The labor market balances employee protection with flexibility and the country’s business needs (1st). Public institutions are among the most effective and transparent in the world (7th), ensuring a level playing field and enhancing business confidence. Competitiveness is also buttressed by excellent infrastructure and connectivity (5th) and highly developed financial markets (11th). Finally, Switzerland’s macroeconomic environment is among the most stable in the world (12th) at a time when many European countries continue to struggle in this area. A potential threat to Switzerland’s competitive edge might be the increasing difficulties faced by businesses and research institutions in finding the talent they need to preserve their outstanding capacity to innovate

Ghana

Ghana reversed last year’s downward trend and climbs up to 111th this year, largely as the result of slight improvements in its macroeconomic indicators (reversing last year’s trend), although fiscal vulnerabilities persist: the government deficit stood at 10.8 percent of GDP in 2013, more than twice that of two years ago; government debt remains over 60 percent; and inflation is over 11 percent. With regard to strengths, public institutions are characterized by relatively high government efficiency (59th) and strong property rights (54th).

In addition, the country’s financial and goods markets are also relatively well developed (62nd and 67th, respectively).

On the other hand, Ghana must do much more to develop and deploy talent in the country.

Education levels continue to trail international standards at all levels, labor markets are characterized by inefficiencies, and the country is not sufficiently harnessing new technologies for productivity enhancements (ICT adoption rates continue to be very low). The security situation, at 111th, also remains a concern.