Toronto, Montreal among top 5 lowest risk cities for employee recruitment, relocation

New York City takes top spot: Aon Hewitt

Toronto has placed third on a list of the lowest risk cities in the world for recruiting, employing and relocating employees.

Aon Hewitt's 2013 People Risk Index measures the risks that organizations face with recruitment, employment and relocation in 138 cities worldwide by analyzing factors such as demographics, access to education, talent development, employment practices and government regulations.

New York, Singapore, Toronto, London and Montreal retained their ranks as the top five lowest risk cities in the world.

"The way businesses now recognize and manage people risk has changed significantly over the last few years," said Richard Payne, talent and rewards practice leader for Aon Hewitt in Asia Pacific. "Driven by a need to do more with less, business leaders have to be more innovative around how they invest; this has had an impact on how they think about talent sourcing and workforce planning.”

New York placed as the world's lowest risk city due to its world-class educational institutions, training facilities and availability of a large pool of qualified and experienced talent. New York's demographic risk is the second lowest due to its large working age population and high workforce productivity, said Aon Hewitt.

The highest risk cities are Luanda, Angola; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Sana'a, Yemen; and Damascus, Syria.

The lack of a stable and transparent government continues to be an obstacle to implement and enforce business-friendly employment practices in these cities. The lack of government investment in developing and improving the education and talent development infrastructure increases an employer's risk in finding skilled talent, as the current infrastructure is unable to support employers' workforce demands, said Aon Hewitt.

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