Returnees have a spring in their step according to the October 7th issue of The Economist. In Ireland, they enjoy a 10% wage premium over their stay-at-home compatriots. In China, they receive more grants and fellowships than their domestic counterparts. A third of Taiwan's companies were founded by returnees from America. Oh, did you think I was talking about women returning to work after an interruption in their careers?

Would that I was! The talent elite everywhere has in common that it is more mobile than the rest. Most developed countries are already struggling to find enough doctors and teachers, and are wondering how they will manage when the baby-boomer generation retires. The Economist says that, "Developing countries, for their part, realize that they will not be able to plug into the global knowledge economy unless they give their people the freedom to move around." But women who want to contribute to businesses are routinely forced out when they attempt to "move around."

Companies are beginning to become aware of the need to gather and retain talent. "The first rule is to think more carefully about their critical talent." Unfortunately, The Economist article fails to identify the potential talent windfall for companies who pay attention to the many women they lost to attrition. Many of these women represented the critical talent of their time and if given a chance to work on projects part time or in some flexible ways would contribute straight to the bottom line. They would likewise need less breaking in than a new recruit. Booz Allen, IBM and Deloitte have already begun to cultivate an internal market for talent. Often, companies do not have corporate officers assigned responsibility for talent attraction and retention. One thing is for sure.

The notion that arrangements for one person of talent must be made available to the general employment pool is outdated. In order to buttonhole stars, the deal needs to be customized. According to McKinsey, "tacit" jobs-- ones that require complex interactions and a high level of judgement have grown three times as fast as employment in general including transcational and manufacturing jobs. That means that about 70% of new jobs created in the last 8 years require tacit interaction. I understand the potential landmines of making deals for superstars but it is a method of attracting talent that American business invented. And the truth is that talent is ruled by inequalities. It is not equally distributed across age, gender, or country.

I do happen to know a couple of talented doctors and teachers who represent the "passive candidate pool." They are quietly raising their children and running the volunteer organization at the library. The line forms here.