Verner Worm and Susan A. Petersen

ARC Internal Seminar:

Verner Worm and Susan A. Petersen , Asia Research Centre

How Small Nations Fare in Global War on Talent: The Case of Denmark

In light of the looming shortage of skilled professionals, hence the growing war on talent, in order to remain globally competitive, increasingly companies from around the world are eager to recruit highly-educated and competent employees wherever they could be found, i.e., regardless of country of origin and nationality. This paper seeks to shed light on how nations compete for the same talent pool by presenting the findings of two related studies on whether (a) Chinese students who are studying in Denmark choose to return to work in China; and (b) Danish students in Denmark are willing to work for Chinese companies in Denmark and/or China. Despite its population of 1.3 billion, China has a critical shortage of managerial talent. The vast majority of Chinese students in Denmark did not plan to remain in Denmark upon completion of their education, while many Danish students are receptive to working for Chinese companies, albeit more so in Denmark than in China. The findings of this study have implications on the plight of smaller nations, such as Denmark, in attracting and retaining human talent. These have implications for small-sized companies in their competition with large firms for human talent.