The Netherlands ranks first in the adoption of flexible work arrangements, according to a report from the World Economic Forum.

The Global Competitiveness Report found that while the Netherlands ranked at the top for flexible work arrangements, Finland was first for digital skills. The report also showed that South Korea ranked at the top for ICT adoption (Information Communications Technology) and the US ranked first in digital legal framework.

For this year’s report, the WEC paused its long-standing Global Competitiveness Index rankings due to the global pandemic. Instead, this year’s report is dedicated to elaborating on the priorities for recovery and revival, and considering the building blocks of a transformation towards new economic systems that combine “productivity”, “people” and “planet” targets.

Among the key recommendations of the report include the reviving and transforming of human capital.

“For several years before the crisis, skills mismatches, talent shortages and increasing misalignment between incentives and rewards for workers had been flagged as problematic for advancing productivity, prosperity and inclusion,” the report states. “Because of the pandemic and subsequent acceleration of technology adoption, these challenges have become even more pronounced and compounded further by permanent and temporary losses of employment and income.”

To address these issues the report says countries should focus in the revival phase on gradually transitioning from furlough schemes to new labour market opportunities, scaling up reskilling and upskilling programmes and rethinking active labour market policies.

Another key recommendation of the report calls for the reviving and transforming of the enabling environment.

“The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated digitalization in advanced economies and made catching up more difficult for countries or regions that were lagging before the crisis,” the report states. “To address this challenge, in the revival phase, countries should upgrade utilities and other infrastructure as well as closing the digital divide within and across countries for both firms and households.”

The report also calls for the reviving and transforming of markets, the innovation ecosystem, as well as assessing readiness for economic transformation, and assessing resilience and crisis disruptions through business sentiment.