Labour market won't be seriously affected by AEC: recruiter

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AEC
Labour market won't be seriously affected by AEC: recruiter
JINTANA PANYAARVUDH
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- DESPITE CONCERN over the free flow of skilled labour within Asean countries when the Asean Economic Community falls into place at the end of next year, the Thai labour market is unlikely to be seriously affected, an executive of a job recruitment company said.

Noppawan Chulakanista, managing director of jobsDB Recruitment Thailand, told The Nation last week that even without the AEC, skilled workers would be able to move freely to work in other countries if they wanted.

"When the AEC begins, the numbers in the free flow [of workers] won't change much. It's not that easy to make such a move in specific careers. You need to look into details of the requirements," she said.

Although some fear that there will be more Asean workers vying for jobs in Thailand, many regulations issued by the Labour Ministry mean the hiring of foreign workers isn't easy. There is a limit, for example, on the number of expatriates a company can employ. And the cost of hiring them is more expensive than for Thais.

"It won't be that easy and in fact it's not totally free (flowing)," she said.

The main difference was migrants who do work that is hard, dangerous or dirty, and thus largely shunned by Thai workers.

A Chulalongkorn University study has revealed earlier that the agreement on the free flow of labour in eight professions may face problems, including different regulations to allow skilled workers in each country and different languages and culture.

More-developed countries would benefit from the 'free flow' the most. The Thai service industry would be the most affected by labour shortages, followed by agriculture and industry.

The eight professions are physicians, engineers, nurses, architects, surveyors, accountants, medical practitioners and tourism industry workers.

Another reason why the 'free flow' won't affect the Thai labour market significantly was that people in some Asean countries still lack enthusiasm or knowledge about what changes will occur after the AEC begins, she said.

However, border trade in Thailand would benefit and expand when the AEC begins.

Wholesale and retail trade in provinces along the borders and major provinces in all regions would receive a positive impact because the expansion of investment in Asean countries. This should lead to more demand for workers.

It's hard to say which countries in Asean will be the most competitive in terms of their labour market after the AEC opens up, because it's quite different. While other countries tend to hire their citizens, Singapore needs to hire many ethnic workers because there various nationalities live there.

"It is neither difficult nor easy to get a job in Singapore because if you graduate from the direct field of the post you apply to, you will get it easily," she said.

While Indonesia tends to hire workers who know local languages because most of the country's businesses or service firms cater to local people, Filipinos often work abroad because there were few big businesses in the country. So, it's hard for a foreigner to get a job in Indonesia.

According to the largest recruitment network across Asia-Pacific, jobsDB, the top six job functions needed most in Asean countries are sales, engineering, IT, accounting, administration and HR, and marketing/public relations. However, the order was different in each country, she said.

Unemployment in Thailand was 0.7 per cent as of August. It was not in a critical condition but the greatest concern is graduates in subjects that are not in demand by the labour market.

Unlike other Asean countries, Thais tend to study for certificates or degrees and are not interested in vocational education, which many jobs require.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Labour-market-wont-be-seriously-affected-by-AEC-re-30245341.html


-- The Nation 2014-10-13

[ukrules]

Are they concerned that people will be flocking to Thailand to take the jobs of Thai's ?

I've got news for them, it will be the reverse.

It's called the 'brain drain' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital_flight

When new labour markets open up the smartest, most intelligent and best of the best will find it's much easier to make the move elsewhere.

With this new ASEAN agreement even the mediocre will find it easy to earn more elsewhere.

[NongKhaiKid]

" Skilled workers will be able to move freely to work in other countries if they wanted ".

Maybe so but will their skills include the ability to communicate in English and if not they may not be wanted.

[kalbo123]

Seeing the unemployment rate in the Philippines, I would not be surprised if a lot a Phillipinos came to work in Thailand, the wages are better here, they have good English language skills as well, I think a lot of businesses would be happy to welcome them here.

[BSJ]

I see the educated Filipinos as people with motivation to come here for more money, a better environment to live and play in.....and something good to put in the resume.

[noitom]

Thais will be pressed down to a lower level. When more qualified internationally competent workers and English speakers show up for more senior and higher paid jobs in all sectors in Thailand, Thais will be pressed down in industry. They will be driven to the level at which they are best qualified to operate. The Darwin concept.

[Zonka]

The Philippinos will dominate in Thailand. Nurses, teachers, dental assistants and hopefully the hospitality industry. Burmese, cambodian, and indonesian will corner the market in labour/fishing. what is left for the Thais to do? Who would hire a thai outside of this country?

[Sydebolle]

0.7% unemployment rate = the Department of Labour should phone the ILO (International Labour Organization) and ask them, what that stands for.
The writing is on the wall!

[Crazy chef 1]

i think this will be the real wake up call for our hosts.

[bluebluewater]

I was aware of MRA's (Mutual Recognition Agreements) for the first seven professions that this article lists but had not heard of one for "tourism industry workers" and I don't think that is at all accurate.

I think that Flip nurses will make their way to Thailand but I don't think we will see many of the others coming to here. Very hard to judge if many of the professions will move away from Thailand as IMO most of the professionals that are here are really very poorly trained. They may want to go to say, Singapore but I have my doubts that an professional firm in Singapore would want them.

[Lupatria]

i think this will be the real wake up call for our hosts.

It is probably much easier to get a bear to come out of hibernation than Thailand to wake up.

[SNGLIFE]

Seeing the unemployment rate in the Philippines, I would not be surprised if a lot a Phillipinos came to work in Thailand, the wages are better here, they have good English language skills as well, I think a lot of businesses would be happy to welcome them here.

I will be hiring a Filipino private teacher for my kids and perhaps another to help me with some IT work ASAP.

A half-dozen professional Thai teachers interviewed and not one could pass a standard 5 question 6th grade math test. Thai IT staff are no better. Sure, they can "learn" the fundamentals, but as soon as something out of the ordinary happens, they are clueless and panic because they can't read English language technical manuals or other resources which might help devise a solution. Initiative is Z-E-R-O.

Any employer would be absolutely mad to hire a Thai over a Filipino provided Thai language ability is not essential.

IMHO I would be thrilled to interact with the Filipino employees at places where I am a customer. Imagine: Receiving a correct response to an inquiry...oh, heavens...

[MediaWatcher]

Sydebolle, on 13 Oct 2014 - 09:44, said:

0.7% unemployment rate = the Department of Labour should phone the ILO (International Labour Organization) and ask them, what that stands for.

The writing is on the wall!

The Thai unemployment figures aren't all that accurate when one considers subsistence farmers are classified as "employed."

[Just1Voice]

A couple of interesting notes.

1) A survey done a couple of years ago quoted that 90%+ of Thai Uni graduate would never apply for a job in a foreign company for one major reason - Their total lack of English skills.

2) Also a couple years ago a major IT company wanted to open an office branch in SE Asia. Thailand was on their list, but then discarded and finally settled on Singapore. When interviewed by Thai reporters as to why the company had rejected Thailand, the response was simple. The company couldn't find enough adequately trained employees, and they couldn't find anywhere near enough English speaking potential employees, which was vital to an international company.

The AEC and ASEAN is going to be a sham for Thailand. Their university grads have worthless degrees that aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Most of them have no English abilities, or minimal at best. They have little to no critical thinking abilities, meaning they have no ability to solve problems. And overall, they're lazy. Filipinos and Vietnamese will beat out the Thai at almost every high level employment because of better education and much better English language skills. Not to mention they are harder workers.

Talk about a loss of "face". How is Somchi, with his proud Uni Degree going to tell his family and friends he lost out on a job to some "inferior" Vietnamese, or Lao, or Filipino because they are smarter, know how to solve problems, and can speak English? Thai unemployment is 0.7%? Yeah, well watch that number climb dramatically after AEC and ASEAN kick in.

[outsider]

I agree the Thai labour market won't be seriously affected. The academics can come up with reams upon reams of research on this, but I think the explanation can be quite simple. Those who keep saying "me no se-peak anglit" can stay where they are and continue to "se-peak no anglit", while those who "pood thai mai dai" can move elsewhere where 'anglit' is more widely spoken, and perhaps with better growth opportunities too. So yes, I think the region may perhaps be leaving Thailand alone, on its own, just the way it likes it, while the rest of ASEAN moves on to bigger things. This isn't Thai bashing, this is an opinion - a perspective based on what I have seen while working and staying here.

[KhaoNiaw]

I would be interested to know the definition of "Tourism" as quoted above - does that mean that other ASEAN nationals will be able to work in restaurants and bars?

Anyone wanting to work in these professions will have to pass the common competency exams.

[SOTIRIOS]

...considering the monumental task of getting employed legally in this country....I would say that is an accurate prediction.....

......'up to 5 years in jail for working without a work permit'........(Is that common globally???)

[billd766]

The Philippinos will dominate in Thailand. Nurses, teachers, dental assistants and hopefully the hospitality industry. Burmese, cambodian, and indonesian will corner the market in labour/fishing. what is left for the Thais to do? Who would hire a thai outside of this country?

Me. I used to work in the mobile phone network industry and most of the Thais I worked with were as good as the Filipinnos with the same skill sets.

[wackybacky]

" Skilled workers will be able to move freely to work in other countries if they wanted ".

Maybe so but will their skills include the ability to communicate in English and if not they may not be wanted.

What I find interesting is the ratio of skilled to unskilled worker with Phils and Indonesia being way out at the top of the chart with Thailand trailing in last place.

Combine that with the unemployment rates in the same three countries.

With Phils having almost 100% English speaking population with Indonesians not being too shabby either.

I can actually see a flood of skilled workers who can speak English flooding from those two countries into Thailand... They will probably also have a much better work ethic than most Thais.

I can see most foreign employers going for the foreign market.... I sure will be replacing all my Thai staff... I will now have a 'no Thai' policy after a string of frustrating experiences.

[Dogmatix]

Thailand is doing its best to block people from the 8 professions from working freely in Thailand by imposing language and other requirements. Meanwhile, they believe their own under educated language deficient professionals will easily get jobs in Singapore.

[tonbridgebrit]

I really do feel that some people are being a bit silly about the new rules regarding labour in the AEC.

For a start, as said many times by loads of people on Thai Visa, the new rules (to come soon) does NOT mean that all migrant workers in Cambodia and Burma will be allowed to flood into Thailand. The new system is NOT about freedom of movement of ALL workers.
All this talk about how the Cambodians and Burmese (actually, Laos as well) will be coming over to Thailand and take jobs away from the Thais ?? Well, surely, there isn't going to be a mad rush in the near future, I mean, how many hundreds of thousands (or is it millions) of cheap migrant workers are ALREADY in Thailand ??

Correct, there won't be a stack of Thais going to Singapore to do skilled labour, because no way are lots of Thais skilled enough to compete against skilled labour in Singapore. Hence, so-called skilled workers in Thailand will mainly stay in Thailand, they CAN'T go to Singapore because they're not good enough. Hence, no need to worry about Thailand sufferring a brain drain of it's workers, their brains aren't that great, Singapore don't want the 'not so good brains'.

Right, what about Phillipine workers coming to Thailand ? The un-skilled ones can't come here. What about the skilled ones ? Can the Phillipino people speak Thai ? If they're skilled, but they can't speak Thai, how are they suppose to compete against Thai workers ? A Phillipino doctor or nurse, so the person speaks English, but staff in Thailand must speak Thai. After all, the hospitals in Thailand treat mainly Thai people, foreigners make up a minority of patients in Thailand.

Okay, so we're seeing more and more health tourists, Americans turn up in Bangkok because it's cheaper to have an operation in Bangkok than America. Okay, the new hospitals in Bangkok that are catering for the increasing number of foreigners, they might employ Philipino doctors (they're cheaper and they speak English), but that's not exactly going to throw a load of Thai medics out of work, right ??
And indeed, hospitals in Bangkok, employing Phillipino doctors/nurses to cater for foreigners, it still benefits the Thai owners of the hospital. If the Phillipines was a developed nation, they would build their own hospitals in Manila, and have Americans going to Manila for treatment. But Phillipines is NOT a developed nation, that's why their doctors must go to Thailand to work, servicing Americans in Bangkok.

It sounds horrible, but you might as well say that sex-workers in Laos and Cambodia go to Thailand to work, catering for Thai and foreign men. At the end of the day, Thailand, sort of, benefits when these foreigners turn up in Thailand, hand over their money, because it's Thai owners who benefit from the foreign labourers, regardless of whether they are sex-workers or medics.

[Thai at Heart]

I really do feel that some people are being a bit silly about the new rules regarding labour in the AEC.

For a start, as said many times by loads of people on Thai Visa, the new rules (to come soon) does NOT mean that all migrant workers in Cambodia and Burma will be allowed to flood into Thailand. The new system is NOT about freedom of movement of ALL workers.

All this talk about how the Cambodians and Burmese (actually, Laos as well) will be coming over to Thailand and take jobs away from the Thais ?? Well, surely, there isn't going to be a mad rush in the near future, I mean, how many hundreds of thousands (or is it millions) of cheap migrant workers are ALREADY in Thailand ??

Correct, there won't be a stack of Thais going to Singapore to do skilled labour, because no way are lots of Thais skilled enough to compete against skilled labour in Singapore. Hence, so-called skilled workers in Thailand will mainly stay in Thailand, they CAN'T go to Singapore because they're not good enough. Hence, no need to worry about Thailand sufferring a brain drain of it's workers, their brains aren't that great, Singapore don't want the 'not so good brains'.

Right, what about Phillipine workers coming to Thailand ? The un-skilled ones can't come here. What about the skilled ones ? Can the Phillipino people speak Thai ? If they're skilled, but they can't speak Thai, how are they suppose to compete against Thai workers ? A Phillipino doctor or nurse, so the person speaks English, but staff in Thailand must speak Thai. After all, the hospitals in Thailand treat mainly Thai people, foreigners make up a minority of patients in Thailand.

Okay, so we're seeing more and more health tourists, Americans turn up in Bangkok because it's cheaper to have an operation in Bangkok than America. Okay, the new hospitals in Bangkok that are catering for the increasing number of foreigners, they might employ Philipino doctors (they're cheaper and they speak English), but that's not exactly going to throw a load of Thai medics out of work, right ??

And indeed, hospitals in Bangkok, employing Phillipino doctors/nurses to cater for foreigners, it still benefits the Thai owners of the hospital. If the Phillipines was a developed nation, they would build their own hospitals in Manila, and have Americans going to Manila for treatment. But Phillipines is NOT a developed nation, that's why their doctors must go to Thailand to work, servicing Americans in Bangkok.

It sounds horrible, but you might as well say that sex-workers in Laos and Cambodia go to Thailand to work, catering for Thai and foreign men. At the end of the day, Thailand, sort of, benefits when these foreigners turn up in Thailand, hand over their money, because it's Thai owners who benefit from the foreign labourers, regardless of whether they are sex-workers or medics.

They have already taken all the minimum wage jobs. Next will be some of the professional jobs.

How many accounting jobs are advertised as wanting English ? 50%? They will lose a big wedge of these jobs to even Vietnamese let alone philipinos

[ScubaPhuket]

Seriously?

Is that diagram a sick joke or was it sent direct from North Korea?