2006Global SkillS RepoRtTalent in the 21st CenturyWhere in the world is it?In conjunction with:Charles A. Handler, Ph.D.Rocket-HireMark C. Healy, M.A.De Anza College2 © 2006 Brainbench, Inc. All rights reserved.Where on Earth: Assessing skills around the globeBrainbench’s 2006 Global Skills Report represents an ongoing effort to document technical and work skill certification around the world. In analyzing the skill certification of nearly 300,000 people in over 200 countries and autonomous regions, we have gazed into the past, present, and future of profes-sional work and technical leadership around the world.This is a follow-up to our 2005 Global Skills Report and is the fourth edition of the series begun in 2001. Since Brainbench’s inception, our library of assessments has expanded to fit the needs of the web-enabled global workplace. Although known for IT skills, Brainbench tests also cover a wide vari-ety of workplace skills, including clerical, managerial, sales and financial skills. The world moves fast, and the present report documents more change than status quo across the business world.What’s Inside?Brainbench’s research staff documents the most common information technology and workplace skills by country, state and US region, as well as tracks changes in the demand for particular knowledge areas and skills. We reveal some of the many dramatic changes in these trends from one year ago, and attempt to interpret and lend insight to the trends presented.Who is Brainbench?Brainbench, a PreVisor Company, helps clients test, track, and improve their employees’ vital job char-acteristics, using the industry’s largest ISO 9001-2000 library of tests. Brainbench’s online assessment solutions improve hiring, retention, training, customer satisfaction, and profitability for organizations such as Advance Auto Parts, British Telecommunication, Citigroup, IBM, Manpower, OPM, TEKsystems, the U.S. Army and Wells Fargo. Brainbench has served over 6 million consumer members with more than 600 skills test and certifications that help individuals measure and obtain certification for skills that are in high demand. For more information visit www.brainbench.com.Table of ContentsAbout this Report ............................................3Executive Summary .........................................4Findings from Around the Globe ..................6Conclusion .........................................................15Appendicies Country Ranking ..........................................19 Country Skill Ranking ..................................20 U.S. States Ranking .......................................24 U.S. States Skill Ranking...............................24References .........................................................28About the Authors ...........................................293 © 2006 Brainbench, Inc. All rights reserved.ABouT ThIs REpoRTA Note about our MethodologyPeople from around the world attempted certifica-tion in one or more skill areas via Brainbench’s on-line skills certification site. Certifications completed from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 are included in the present study. Scoring and certification is standardized across Brainbench’s skill library. In order to be certified, an individual must have achieved a score high enough to be officially “certified” for the given skill, which is a score of 2.75 out of a possible score of 5.0. A test result too low for certification (i.e., less than 2.75) does indicate interest or relevance of the skill to local industries and the job market; how-ever, a low score does not indicate competence or employability. This report specifically focuses on actual competence, as opposed to general interest. Therefore, individuals who attempted certification, yet failed, are not included in this report.Demographic information was contributed by Brainbench members as well. Specifically, individuals must choose a country or state as part of their reg-istration. In addition, a test for a given subject area can only be counted once for a given individual, and an individual can have multiple certifications from different subject areas (See “Terminology” below). Therefore, the report focuses on certifications as the unit of analysis, not individuals.The scope of the skillsThis large-scale assessment of skills around the world began with 887,120 tests completed between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006. Of those adminis-trations, 56% achieved passing scores. Of those, 298,495 were unique certifications by an individual who provided state and country information. (Multiple instances of same-test results for a given individual were removed.) Therefore, this report represents 298,495 individual skill certifications.The individuals representing these skill certifications hale from 217 different nations, territories, and prin-cipalities. Nonetheless, the Brainbench assessment library focuses on English. Therefore, most individu-als being certified are native speakers of English or speak it fairly fluently. This is no accident: English has become the international language of technology, and many positions require at least enough fluency to allow for successful job performance. skill Categories and Data TrendsAs with last year’s report, we focus on data and trends for six skill categories: • Information Technology• Finance• Customer Support• Sales & Marketing• Management • Health CareThough non-technical areas of certification are expanding the Brainbench library, IT still dominates the certification world. Consequently, IT rankings include the following six subsections: • Database Development and Administration• Programming and Development• Systems and Network Administration• Technical Support• Telecommunications• Web Development and Administration Terminology• Certification – passing score of >=2.75 out of 5 on a Brainbench Assessment• Category – a grouping of subject areas (e.g., Health Care, IT, Finance)• subcategory – Only within IT, subcategories are detailed in the previous section.• subject area – A specific certification, such as Project Management or Linux Administration – Sometimes referred to as a “skill” or “skill area.”4 © 2006 Brainbench, Inc. All rights reserved.ExECuTIvE suMMARy (This executive summary was completed by Dr. Charles Handler, an industrial-organizational psychologist known globally as an expert in the
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