Ljubljana - Slovenia ranks 31st among 132 countries in the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), same as last year. It ranked 29th in 2019 and 25th when the index was first introduced in 2013. After the spring lockdown, the Slovenian economy recovered the fastest in the East Europe region.

Slovenia's recovery after the first wave of the epidemic was the fastest thanks to digital infrastructure, flexibility of the labour force and state aid, says temping agency Adecco in its latest Inovantage survey.

The survey ranks countries by readiness for work, recovery after the pandemic and the outlook for the labour market.

Slovenia fares best in education, lifestyle, number of people with secondary and tertiary education, and the amount of innovation.

Its scores are a bit lower in openness to external factors, including foreign direct investment, transfer of technology, scope of foreign ownership in the country, number of migrants and international students.

In terms of recovery after the first spring lockdown, Slovenia ranks first among East European countries, which are not as connected internationally as West European countries and are on average less dependent on the sectors that were hit the most by the pandemic.

According to Adecco, work from home will transform the labour market forever, as it has no negative effect on the productivity of the labour force. The trends brought about by the pandemic and automation are increasing the pressure on jobs in education, manufacturing, logistics, hospitality and entertainment, the report says.