So much staff everywhere ... what is behind it?

[JimmyTobacco]

Coming from a western European country, one of the things that amazes me the most in Thailand is the abundance of staff everywhere: at the airports, at bigger shops, in the malls etc. Certainly staff in Europe is not so easy to come by and it is a big expense.

 

Now I know Thailand has a very low minimum wage and relatively more young people than Europe. And also Thailand is more service-minded for sure. But for me this is not enough of an explanation.

 

This weekend when we were at HomePro and looking around me in 360 degrees I saw about 20 staff members, all doing absolutely nothing. Earlier, when we were looking at vacuum cleaners, there were about 15 other staff standing around. Most of them do nothing. It was not busy in the shop.

 

So cheap labor or not, it seems that having so much staff around is an absolute waste of money. My girlfriend suggested that having a certain number of staff might give the company some additional tax benefits or increase the company's value.

 

What is the true reason there is so much staff everywhere?

[bkk6060]

Yes, Homepro may be the worst.  Someone advised me a few years back that some of those staff are actually students who are working on a field study for their degrees, so possibly do not get paid at all.

In any event, it is ridiculous not sure what the point is having 2 or 3 on every isle.

[GammaGlobulin]

The answer to your question, as with all other important questions, can be found in the Bible:

 

 

The many staff you find in Thailand are there to comfort thee.

 

So obviously !

 

 

Therefore, please continue to read your Bible, and all shall be made clear to thee, in time.

 

 

[Will B Good]

 

Labour is as cheap as chips....or as cheap as chips used to be.

[GammaGlobulin]

5 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Yes, Homepro may be the worst.  Someone advised me a few years back that some of those staff are actually students who are working on a field study for their degrees, so possibly do not get paid at all.

In any event, it is ridiculous not sure what the point is having 2 or 3 on every isle.

 

I agree with you.

 

I will not shop at HomePro again, if I can possibly avoid doing so.

 

Yes, and it is true that HomePro staff try to be helpful.

However, the question is:

 

a.  Are they well trained enough to actually prove advantageous to the average shopper at HomePro?

 

b. Anytime the untrained HomePro staff might make an error, then it is the customer who pays the cost, most likely in lost time.

 

c.  Maybe the staff are there to enjoy the AirCon, and to lounge about, and to chat with their collegues?

 

d. IF HomePro prices are higher than they might otherwise be, and if this might be due to the excessive number of staff, then some customers might prefer to have HomePro whittle down staff numbers.

 

e.  Also, I have found that it is the staff that often get in the way of any task that I am trying to complete.  They continually look at me and ask me what I am doing there. Or, what I might be looking for, when even I am not sure exactly what I am seeking.

 

But then, when I actually THINK of something that I am looking for....and when I ask the closest staff, they invariably reply that they do not know.  They just say....Ti Noooooon, Ti Nooooooooon. (Over there, Over there, it's Over there.....somewhere.)

 

Just one of my observations about shopping there which might not be entirely accurate, from week to week, as new staff replace existing staff.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

44 minutes ago, JimmyTobacco said:

Coming from a western European country, one of the things that amazes me the most in Thailand is the abundance of staff everywhere: at the airports, at bigger shops, in the malls etc. Certainly staff in Europe is not so easy to come by and it is a big expense.

 

Now I know Thailand has a very low minimum wage and relatively more young people than Europe. And also Thailand is more service-minded for sure. But for me this is not enough of an explanation.

 

This weekend when we were at HomePro and looking around me in 360 degrees I saw about 20 staff members, all doing absolutely nothing. Earlier, when we were looking at vacuum cleaners, there were about 15 other staff standing around. Most of them do nothing. It was not busy in the shop.

 

So cheap labor or not, it seems that having so much staff around is an absolute waste of money. My girlfriend suggested that having a certain number of staff might give the company some additional tax benefits or increase the company's value.

 

What is the true reason there is so much staff everywhere?

I was in Thaiwatsadu once, searched for someone to help, found one getting her hair platted, wasn't happy I'd disturbed them

[Nick Carter icp]

50 minutes ago, JimmyTobacco said:

So cheap labor or not, it seems that having so much staff around is an absolute waste of money.

 

   What is even more annoying that there is staff constantly watching you and soon as you stop and look at something, they pounce and try and convince you to buy something .

[SAFETY FIRST]

58 minutes ago, JimmyTobacco said:

So much staff everywhere ...

abundance of staff everywhere

You'll find 3 out of 4 will be asleep or eating or doing something other than working. 

 

They like spending time in the bathroom, got to dump a few times a day to get rid of the all the food they eat. 

 

[lungbing]

Too many staff.  Until you get to the checkout that is.  Standing  there is one girl with a bar code that doesn't scan faffing about while a queue builds up as she tries to get another staff member to go and get a replacement product.

[bamnutsak]

This topic has come up quite often here over the years...some of the reasons I recall people mentioning:

 

manufacturers subsidize employees' salary, and pay SPIFFs

 

employers are required to have a certain staff to sales/revenue ratio

 

 

I'm sure a search would reveal other rationale.

 

 

[Everyman]

The answer probably has something to do with the “middle income trap” from economics.