NYC lowest risk city in the world for employment issues
When it comes to recruiting, employing and relocating workers, firms may be best suited in New York City. Aon Hewitt’s recently-released 2012 People Risk Index analyzed 131 cities around the world based on risks organizations face in talent development and found that the Big Apple is the lowest risk, surpassing last year’s top spot of Toronto.
Analyzing factors including demographics, access to education, talent development, employment practices and government regulations, the People Risk Index found that New York is the lowest risk, followed by Toronto, Singapore, Montreal and London. The highest risk cities are Lagos, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Baghdad, Iraq; Sana’a, Yemen; and Damascus, Syria.
“With increasing labor costs and continued economic volatility around the world, leaders of global organizations understand that talent management is crucial to the success of their business operations. To remain competitive, they are redesigning their talent sourcing strategies and shifting their operations to more advantageous locations,” said Rick Payne, regional Talent and Rewards practice leader for Aon Hewitt in Asia Pacific in a statement. “Identifying locations and formulating a successful workforce planning strategy involves looking beyond cost. The Aon Hewitt People Risk Index helps companies adopt a systematic and holistic approach that compares and measures talent factors and risks by location.”
New York edged out Toronto as the world’s lowest risk city. New York ranked lowest in demographics risk based on its large working age population, positive immigration rate and high workforce productivity. New York’s education and talent development risks also are among the lowest in the world. However, the index showed that the city has higher employment risk than the other top five cities, mainly due to higher violence and crime rates, and higher health care and benefits liability risks.
Toronto and Montreal are among the five lowest risk cities primarily due to Canada’s strict enforcement of equal opportunity laws, clear government-mandated health and retirement benefits, low levels of corruption, and the high quality and broad availability of training facilities. While Toronto has low employment and redeployment risk, the city’s recruitment risks are higher than the other top five cities because of its relatively small working age population and lower immigration rates.
Singapore is the only city outside of Europe and North America that is among the five lowest risk cities, according to the index. Contributing to this rating are its strict laws on discrimination and occupational health and safety, flexibility on personnel costs, lack of corruption and willingness to work with the private sector on human resources related issues. Singapore also has low terrorism and political risks and strong government support.
“Government support strongly correlates with people risk,” Payne added. “Cities with low risk typically have a government that is transparent, non-confrontational, deals with employment issues fairly and promotes education and talent development initiatives. Employers in these cities are less likely to be surprised by changes in government policies on employment, health care and retirement and they have better support in terms of workforce development.”
To find out more about the 2012 People Risk Index, and to obtain a copy of the 2012 People Risk Index Ratings, visit http://www.aonpeoplerisk.com
