The Global Talent War: A 30-year, ever-evolving battle for survival

Since the late ‘90s, when the term was coined by researchers at McKinsey & Company, organizations the world over have been embroiled in a vicious “war for talent,” due in part to rising digitalization and internet penetration across emerging markets.

Almost three decades later, businesses are still fighting the same war, albeit with some slight changes in the battlefield and in the strategies that those caught up in the combat have begun to employ.

In this episode of The Global Talent War, Globalization Partners’ Charles Ferguson talks about how this battle began, how it’s evolved over the years, and what we can expect to happen in the near future.

Charles Ferguson, general manager of Asia Pacific at Globalization Partners / Photo credit: Globalization Partners

Timecodes:

00:00 – Intro
00:33 – What is the global talent war?
00:56 – When the term “war for talent” was coined
01:39 – How the battle began
07:10 – Power shifting into the hands of employees
10:06 – An ever-evolving war
17:01 – A growing list of casualties
22:19 – The “future of work” has come and gone
24:49 – How businesses have begun to adapt to the war for talent
31:05 – The end is nowhere in sight, but that doesn’t mean the future can’t be bright

Download the full transcript here.

Hosts:

• Charles Ferguson, Singapore-based general manager for Globalization Partners’ Asia-Pacific operations
• Nathaniel Fetalvero, managing editor of Tech in Asia Studios and host of the Startup Snapshot podcast

The Global Talent War is a podcast by Tech in Asia, produced in partnership with Globalization Partners. Visit Globalization Partners’ website to learn more about how you can gain an edge in the ever-evolving global talent war.