Thailand facing skills gap; Talent shortage clouds positive employment figures

[webfact]

Kingdom facing skills gap
Erich Parpart
The Nation

Talent shortage clouds positive employment figures

BANGKOK: -- Global unemployment has broken an all-time record with an average rate of 6 per cent this year, which is expected to remain until 2017. However, unemployment in Southeast Asia was only 4.4 per cent and Thailand was one of the lowest in the region at 0.8 per cent as of August, according to Adecco.

"This all sounds like good news for Asia and Thailand, but there is a real problem of talent shortage in various industries," Ian Grundy, head of marketing and communications of Adecco Asia, a human resources solution company, said yesterday.

The "job gap" in Asia is essentially the problem of under-skilled workers and overqualified individuals who cannot find a job because their skills do not match the criteria for applicants.

"Most students leave school without the proper skills and talents that are currently needed by industries and offices," he said.

According to Adecco's statistics, 59 per cent of companies in Thailand cannot find available candidates to fill openings because of their lack of technical expertise and unmatched skills or education. Tidarat Kanchnawat, the firm's director for Thailand and Vietnam, said that in Thailand, employers prefer high-skilled, qualified and experienced candidates, while new graduates apply only for positions they are interested in.

"Construction, infrastructure and manufacturing are among the industries witnessing a severe shortage of labour," he said.

The main reason for the shortage of non-skilled labour is the government's policy of paying a minimum monthly salary of Bt15,000 to officials with a bachelor's degree. The private sector has to increase the salaries of its employees, which increases their cost of production and leads them to outsourcing for labour.

"Leading industries responsible for economic growth in Thailand are experiencing a shortage of labour and it is affecting the growth of GDP in this country," he said.

The automobile industry, one of the fastest-growing industries in Thailand, is facing a shortage of skilled workers, while some labour-intensive industries are considering moving their production base elsewhere to get lower-cost workers.

The top five positions in demand are engineers, salesmen, accountants, administrators and IT experts. The automobile, electronics, FMCG, IT and construction industries are the most sought out. Marketers, engineers, IT experts, salesmen and administrators are the top job-seekers.

The year saw an increase in applicants for all jobs but comparing demand and supply, marketing and IT are the top sought after. However the number of jobs in the fields is not dealing with the demand of job-seekers, causing the high competition. Salesmen, accountants, administrators and engineers are in need but are in continuous shortage.

Next year, Thailand's employment market will see another shortage especially for highly skilled or specialised staff from the operating to the executive level, who are in high demand from many organisations.


-- The Nation 2013-11-29

[MaxLee]

The middle and rich kid class don't like to do the dirty work,... need I say more???

[winstonc]

rubbish.....you watch those boys/girls texting on their phone while riding a moped at 40.mph..now that takes some doing...impresses the hell out of me.

[NongKhaiKid]

rubbish.....you watch those boys/girls texting on their phone while riding a moped at 40.mph..now that takes some doing...impresses the hell out of me.

Except when they are in the rear view mirror, or worse when alongside.

[paddyjenkins]

More fundamentally, the country faces an IQ gap

[virtualtraveller]

When unemployment rate is so low, you can raise minimum wage, but productivity is also low so you end up becoming uncompetitive. Everyone here has a job and another and another, which is good but they are inefficient. The whole business model of this country is based on that and it's unsustainable, there are new and hungrier countries entering the fold.

[ChrisY1]

65 million people and they can't find suitable workers.....says a lot!!

It's a sad case when engineers, IT and many other professionals are completing university....getting their Batchelor Degree.... but cannot find employment because in many instances, they are not suitably qualified!

A contractor I know needed employees......one question he put to them: How many Centimetres in a Metre......of 12 applicants....none had the correct answer.....9 had degrees!

[harrycallahan]

Oh no, the recruiter vermin have infested Thailand now!

[Asiantravel]

65 million people and they can't find suitable workers.....says a lot!!

It's a sad case when engineers, IT and many other professionals are completing university....getting their Batchelor Degree.... but cannot find employment because in many instances, they are not suitably qualified!

A contractor I know needed employees......one question he put to them: How many Centimetres in a Metre......of 12 applicants....none had the correct answer.....9 had degrees!

not surprising when you see the need for so many people to grab a calculator to carry out the most basic multiplication or addition

[mijan24]

According to Adecco's statistics, 59 per cent of companies in Thailand cannot find available candidates to fill openings because of their lack of technical expertise and unmatched skills or education.

Why would this surprise anyone except the wording should relate to "lack of critical thinking skills and poor communication skills" - Add to this the lack of any kind of work ethic - it is much easier to borrow (no thought on repayment or just take it on time payment with once again no thought of repaying)

Construction virtually stopped in Khon Kaen last week- many of the labourers had to report home to harvest rice once again no thought to the building companis they only pay ฿300 a day I am told rice harvesting returns ฿350 a day or rice to take home to the family.

Edited November 29, 2013 by metisdead
Bold font removed.

[ginjag]

All those that pay stamps and tax from their wages, or those who are farming that really are self employed and registered, declaring profit with family members on their books. THESE persons are then classed as working.

Other than this you are unemployed. full stop.

Bar girls and boys throughout Thailand, not actually paying tax although working from a bar. unemployed full stop

There are ???????/ that do not contribute- therefore unemployed

These figure about near zero unemployment BS, all the men under retirement age and women laid down sleeping most of the day. Waiting for monies sent from kids working away.

For me there are no hidden or in between stats, what can't speak can't lie. if you do not pay tax /stamps whatever system --YOU are UNEMPLOYED. no excuses. This then to my mind is the foolproof way to say who is employed.

[paddyjenkins]

All those that pay stamps and tax from their wages, or those who are farming that really are self employed and registered, declaring profit with family members on their books. THESE persons are then classed as working.

Other than this you are unemployed. full stop.

Bar girls and boys throughout Thailand, not actually paying tax although working from a bar. unemployed full stop

There are ???????/ that do not contribute- therefore unemployed

These figure about near zero unemployment BS, all the men under retirement age and women laid down sleeping most of the day. Waiting for monies sent from kids working away.

For me there are no hidden or in between stats, what can't speak can't lie. if you do not pay tax /stamps whatever system --YOU are UNEMPLOYED. no excuses. This then to my mind is the foolproof way to say who is employed.

You are free to think whatever you like as you are not and would not be qualified to work as an economist or government statistician, but the plain fact is that employment is defined as exchange of labour for payments, as opposed to those who pay tax. So all the bar girls and boys who you say are not employed, are in fact doing a job and are employed, whether that makes the statistics harder or not is irrelevant.

[kingstonkid]

Remove the Thai only restriction and you would see a lot of the jobs filled I am sure.

Also is this not a problem in the USA also. People want the high pay jobs and will not work the lower paying jobs as it is below them.

[Yunla]

The next generation will be far more talented, because they spent their formative years trying to get their broken PTP computer tablets to load 'Angry Birds', instead of actually reading books and listening to teachers.

[winstonc]

The next generation will be far more talented, because they spent their formative years trying to get their broken PTP computer tablets to load 'Angry Birds', instead of actually reading books and listening to teachers.

dead right yunla ...be careful people you dont want to be in the thai bashing club..some punters on here will ..go mad

[bushman1666]

The next generation will be far more talented, because they spent their formative years trying to get their broken PTP computer tablets to load 'Angry Birds', instead of actually reading books and listening to teachers.[/quote

Many a true word spoken in jest

[Thaddeus]

The saddest waste of all time is a child's potential.

If Thailand should be classed as a hub of anything, it's that.

[chainarong]

The talent pool should improve as soon as the protesters kick out the PTP , there's a lot of talent in that organization, especially with long pockets and short memories.

[Robert2006]

The Thai’s are on their own by their own choice and I guess that’s what they want, in my opinion they don’t have a prayer of successfully competing. They’re immense jealousy of any farang making money here and the terrifically challenging environments they have created for business motivates most talented entrepreneurial farang to just move to another country and create business and teach their skill set in other countries.

Jealousy, corruption, laziness, lack of English skills, not all Thai’s there are some wonderfully talented creative Thai’s but I would say the old 80/20 rule applies, 80% are useless.

You can’t even buy a home safely here if you manage the maze of jealousy and corruption and create a successful business. I think their foolish, personally if things were different I would have built a business here just like I had back home employing, exposing and training these people in my field of expertise. Additionally I would have 50 times the money working for me here in the Kingdom.

There are many great things about Thailand, it’s an interesting country in many ways but in my opinion the business environment is terrible and the talent of the people available is merely a reflection of that reality.

[sonar6ca]

"Most students leave school without the proper skills and talents that are currently needed by industries and offices," he said.

25 years ago the same problem consisted, those students then and now in technical schools are considered juvenile offenders, alcoholics and low class.

Thailand like many other countries around the world look down on those types of schools and there is no respect for real professionals that are hard to find here.

In my opinion nothing would change if society does not open their eyes.

We need more 7/11 managers with a B.A degree but no plumbers or electricians that know what they are doing.

Sad.

[ginjag]

All those that pay stamps and tax from their wages, or those who are farming that really are self employed and registered, declaring profit with family members on their books. THESE persons are then classed as working.

Other than this you are unemployed. full stop.

Bar girls and boys throughout Thailand, not actually paying tax although working from a bar. unemployed full stop

There are ???????/ that do not contribute- therefore unemployed

These figure about near zero unemployment BS, all the men under retirement age and women laid down sleeping most of the day. Waiting for monies sent from kids working away.

For me there are no hidden or in between stats, what can't speak can't lie. if you do not pay tax /stamps whatever system --YOU are UNEMPLOYED. no excuses. This then to my mind is the foolproof way to say who is employed.

You are free to think whatever you like as you are not and would not be qualified to work as an economist or government statistician, but the plain fact is that employment is defined as exchange of labour for payments, as opposed to those who pay tax. So all the bar girls and boys who you say are not employed, are in fact doing a job and are employed, whether that makes the statistics harder or not is irrelevant.

So as you say it's "Labour for payments " is it ????

I take it then if a rural worker cuts a tree down for 200 bht then goes home --he is then employed, family members that HELP to get in rice earn a roof over their head, a little pocket money, and sticky rice are employed. All the rural ladies that sit around half a day get money through the post office from the bar worker away-is not unemployed ???

I can accept how it's worked here but only for one end---to produce good figures to the international community. TAT stats come to mind,

AOT.... can name so so many manipulated/favourable stats.

[anon467367354]

yesterday i went to the pet food store to buy cat litter, an older student, high school or college was doing the 12 year old daughter's homework for her because she didn't understand. Of course I said something that at least the child could try to do it herself rather than just asking for help. I see it every day, the kid comes home and opens the homework in front of a parent to have them do it. Today I bought two bags of cat food, one for 45 baht and the other for 55baht. Yup, she pulled out a calculator.

As long as cheating and copying is an acceptable practice, and as technology continues to steam onward, the Thais are going to continue to fall further and further behind.

[ignis]

Just read some of the Thai adverts, most places need qualified and with 2 + years experienced candidates... so if there just out of Uni and qualified they lack the in field experience...

Then is the next problem they are qualified and experienced is the age.. so many say max age is 30 - 35.. Guess if your over that age your overqualified ?

[culicine]

65 million people and they can't find suitable workers.....says a lot!!

It's a sad case when engineers, IT and many other professionals are completing university....getting their Batchelor Degree.... but cannot find employment because in many instances, they are not suitably qualified!

A contractor I know needed employees......one question he put to them: How many Centimetres in a Metre......of 12 applicants....none had the correct answer.....9 had degrees!

Makes one wonder where they get this 0.8% statistic from - the unemployed don't get social security here so I fail to see how they can estimate employment rates....they can't use tax payments either as most working Thais don't earn enough to pay tax. I think unemployment rates are very high, given the quality of school/university graduate here. Or a heck of a lot of them are working in fast food joints.

[smileydude]

There's also a problem with faster turnover rates for the younger generation.

The Millennium Generation (age 31 and younger) has been found to have somewhat unmet or unrealistic work expectations and when coupled with shared attributes like entitlement (stemming from coddled parenting), need for instant gratification (think internet) and less patience (think entitlement + internet), leads to job hopping. It takes HR months to train someone and years to develop their specialization but they are gone before its been completed enough for the investment to be rewarded in the form of a specialized and effective workforce.

Many leading companies face a shortage of staff, with training often cut down from 2-3 months to 2-3 weeks in order to compensate for the rapid turnover. Throw someone in the fold unprepared with generational M characteristics they struggle to adapt and end up leaving their jobs. Thus the vicious cycle goes on.

Edited November 29, 2013 by smileydude

[ginjag]

yesterday i went to the pet food store to buy cat litter, an older student, high school or college was doing the 12 year old daughter's homework for her because she didn't understand. Of course I said something that at least the child could try to do it herself rather than just asking for help. I see it every day, the kid comes home and opens the homework in front of a parent to have them do it. Today I bought two bags of cat food, one for 45 baht and the other for 55baht. Yup, she pulled out a calculator.

As long as cheating and copying is an acceptable practice, and as technology continues to steam onward, the Thais are going to continue to fall further and further behind.

I have to save up to get money together to afford cat litter, 5 Kilo bag of cat litter near 200 bht. (and they don't eat it ) for that money it should be edible. . Tesco tuna tins used to be 12 bht now 15.75 in 1 year amazing.

On topic agree just laziness, if many can get away with someone doing it for them--great. The quicker it's finished the more social time they have, mobiles-m/cycle-TV-rubbing on Nivea whitening creams etc. Calculators are the crucial everyday item, why learn in memory when you can get an answer from these wonders of the world.

Remember when I was 7 years old I knew that 6x16 was 96. without working it out. this is why we tend to ridicule people here, but if we did it why cannot they----I was talking 65 years ago. maybe I am old fashioned and stupid for not having a calculator.

[kawaiimomo]

It is really pathetic. I am a software developer dealing with lots of last year uni students who come to do their internship at our company. I am yet to find one who actually likes or want to do some coding or knows how, all of them are studying computer science, software engineering or the like. When you ask them what they want to work on, they answer doing documents, testing,manager, etc

Why in earth do they study this is the want to do documentation? Or how the hell do you want to be a system architect if you can't even write a simple program?

Classes don't make any difference, I have found the richest guys to be the worst. Perfect English, studied in inter national schools whatever, they are useless. I would put them to work as plain labour in a construction site (and I am sure they would still do something wrong). Of course, on Facebook, line, or downloading bit torrents with the office networks, on that they are good.

Now I am helping a Thai friend with his startup, currently trying to find some developers. We posted offers in several job offers webs and we are getting extremely fee candidates, and most of them really suck. I know there are a few good developers here, I meet several companies with excellent tech people, it looks like they setup their own company so they don't need to deal with the useless ones.

[Benmart]

rubbish.....you watch those boys/girls texting on their phone while riding a moped at 40.mph..now that takes some doing...impresses the hell out of me.

Particularly when one hits a parked car. I too was impressed...by the distance the driver flew, unaided by jet engine or propeller.

[Benmart]

All those that pay stamps and tax from their wages, or those who are farming that really are self employed and registered, declaring profit with family members on their books. THESE persons are then classed as working.

Other than this you are unemployed. full stop.

Bar girls and boys throughout Thailand, not actually paying tax although working from a bar. unemployed full stop

There are ???????/ that do not contribute- therefore unemployed

These figure about near zero unemployment BS, all the men under retirement age and women laid down sleeping most of the day. Waiting for monies sent from kids working away.

For me there are no hidden or in between stats, what can't speak can't lie. if you do not pay tax /stamps whatever system --YOU are UNEMPLOYED. no excuses. This then to my mind is the foolproof way to say who is employed.

You are free to think whatever you like as you are not and would not be qualified to work as an economist or government statistician, but the plain fact is that employment is defined as exchange of labour for payments, as opposed to those who pay tax. So all the bar girls and boys who you say are not employed, are in fact doing a job and are employed, whether that makes the statistics harder or not is irrelevant.

I enjoyed the "facts" of your post, but the delivery was a bit harsh. Nothing wrong with a softer approach. It's often received much better and adds to the credibility factor IMO.

[smooth expat]

BS. They say these things in the USA too. There aren't enough "skilled" workers yet the wages are low. These jobs must not be very desirable if they can't find any people to fill them. Doesn't take much for somebody to get a degree. The problem is employers are NOT PAYING ENOUGH.