BOT may need to recruit senior staff outside country

By The Nation

Many senior executives of the Bank of Thailand will retire in the next few years and could force the central bank to recruit more outsiders to fill the vacancies.

According to Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 22 senior executives ranging from department director to assistant governor will retire between this year and 2013, citing a source at the central bank.

The bank has therefore braced for a possible shortage of qualified senior personnel, the source said.

If the central bank cannot fill the vacant jobs with younger generations, it may be forced to import outsiders, he said.

One factor contributing to the problem is that central bank staff are not allowed to go on leave to further their education, so some of them resign for studies and then seek new jobs.

"In the past the central bank attracted qualified staff, but now there are many new prominent organisations such as PTT and Siam Cement Group that draw people's attention," the source said.

Bank of Thailand governor Tarisa Watanagase, who is to step down by the end of this month, said the bank could train younger staff by rotating their job responsibilities, which would allow them to learn more.

She admitted, however, that over time, the central bank would not be able to find qualified personnel inside the organisation and would have to recruit senior managers from outside.

She also said the bank was considering relaxing the rule prohibiting staff from temporarily leaving for further education.

-- The Nation 2010-09-07

Is this another ridiculous TIT headline by "The Nation"?

I read the article a couple of times.My understanding is that they will not be able to fill the vacancies from within the bank, so will have to look outside, presumably other large Thai banks or Thai companies.

But nowhere did I see any reference except in the headline to recruiting staff outside of Thailand. The author seems to have drawn the (false) conclusion that using the words "import" and "outside" leads to "foreign".

Pity they can't keep Tarisa a while longer. She has done an excellent job, IMO.

Is this another ridiculous TIT headline by "The Nation"?

I read the article a couple of times.My understanding is that they will not be able to fill the vacancies from within the bank, so will have to look outside, presumably other large Thai banks or Thai companies.

But nowhere did I see any reference except in the headline to recruiting staff outside of Thailand. The author seems to have drawn the (false) conclusion that using the words "import" and "outside" leads to "foreign".

Pity they can't keep Tarisa a while longer. She has done an excellent job, IMO.

"Pity they can't keep Tarisa a while longer. She has done an excellent job, IMO". I agree completely. Unfortunately Thailand has a very rigid "60 and out" rule in the civil service - and this even applies to state-owned companies. While this may have been appropriate in the past, longer lives and better health makes the rule out dated.

Instead of banning staff from taking sabbaticals to improve their knowlege, they should be rather encouraging it - cheap loans for the fees etc and no loss of seniority/promotion prospects. Secondments to other central banks or the IMF should also be part of the mix. The BoT has been greatly improved as a result of actions taken after the 1997-98 crisis - and IMO is now a better central bank than many others in Asia (and some in Europe!).