Thailand ranks low in world talent competitiveness index

[webfact]

Thailand ranks low in world talent competitiveness index
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- THAILAND IS ranked 61st out of 93 countries in the most recent Global Talent Competitiveness Index.

The index is based on a nation's ability to grow, attract and retain talent.

It finds that Thailand's modest showing is due to a struggle in imparting employable skills and enhance labour productivity, although market conditions are good.

"Thailand has good market conditions and good performance in growing its own talent," said the research by INSEAD, Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore and the Adecco Group.

However it struggles in attracting talent - inter-regional and from abroad - and in converting existing talent into better performance in terms of employable skills, including global skills and higher levels of labour productivity,"

"With Thai companies, particularly those in the area of technology, continuing to expand globally, the need for strong talent development in Thailand is more important than ever before. As a country, we need to continually look at new ways to develop our talent base," said Tidarat Kanchanawat, country manager of Adecco Thailand.

Kwan Chee Wei, CEO of HCLI, added: "In certain Asian countries, there is a need to see value and worth in both professional and technical vocations. Beyond this, traditional hierarchies and bureaucracy in many Asian corporates often hold back openness, transparency and empowerment - important levers in accelerating talent growth."

The research finds that investment in "employable skills" and vocational education is the key to attracting, retaining and developing talent.

Globally, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg lead the rankings.

As in 2013, GTCI rankings are dominated by European countries, with only six non-European countries in the top 20: Singapore (2), the United States (5), Canada (5), Australia (9), New Zealand (16) and Japan (20).

"It's really quite striking that among the top three countries - Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg - two are landlocked and one is an island," said Bruno Lanvin, executive director of Global Indices at INSEAD, and co-author of the report.

Faced with specific geographical challenges and a quasi-absence of natural resources, these countries have had no choice but to be open economies, a critical ingredient to being talent competitive. The top countries in this year's GTCI have played the game of globalisation, and have played it well, said Lanvin.

The research also found that a focus on "employable skills" and continued investment in vocational education underpins success in developing, attracting and retaining top talent.

Many of the other economies in the "top 20" have strong immigration traditions, including the US (4), Canada (5), Sweden (6), the United Kingdom (7), and Australia (9). These high-performing countries also have long prioritised education, as is the case for the other Scandinavian countries, all in the top 15: Denmark (8), Norway (11), and Finland (13).

A total of 93 countries, representing 83.8 per cent of the world's population and 96.2 per cent of the world's GDP in US dollar terms, were analysed for the indexindex, which aims to provide a practical and strategic tool for governments, businesses and not-for-profit organisations to inform policies in areas such as education, human resources and immigration.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Thailand-ranks-low-in-world-talent-competitiveness-30252913.html

-- The Nation 2015-01-29

[Crazy chef 1]

what a surprise...guess already too much happiness around though no need for further development...

[Somtamnication]

I think this is a bigoted survey. They completely ignored corruption abilities, scam abilities, overpricing and bs. They would win gold in these tournaments. Disgusting!

[trogers]

Depends on the definition of talent.

If lying, cheating and stealing are talents, Thailand is among the top of the chart - from politicians down to taxi drivers.

[PepperMe]

At first I thought they were talking about all round talent.

I was going to comment on there obviously being a low appreciation of talents with ping pong balls.... Oh I already commented.

[clockman]

Masters of rubber band twisting!

[NongKhaiKid]

Too Be Number One ?

If, in your own mind, you already know you are Number One there's nothing to prove to anyone else especially foreigners.

[LuckyLew]

comon now ... nobody plays facebook like Thai employees ....

[noitom]

Substandard Thailand is just now discovering its shortcomings.

[canuckamuck]

C'mon if Thailand had no marketable skills, why isn't Pattaya still a fishing village.

[jaltsc]

"It finds that Thailand's modest showing is due to a struggle in imparting employable skills and enhance labour productivity, although market conditions are good."

Once they leave, they don't want to return. When I working at an American university, just about every Thai student was seeking an employer that would pay off the Thai government investment so the student would not have to return to Thailand to fulfill the work obligation stipulated in the government scholarship. Thais have plenty of employable skills and productivity. However, those Thais do not live in Thailand.

Edited January 29, 2015 by jaltsc

[trogers]

It finds that Thailand's modest showing is due to a struggle in imparting employable skills and enhance labour productivity, although market conditions are good.

Wait till those kids with PTP-issued Chinese made tablets come of age...

[chainarong]

There is quite a few good entrepreneurs in Thailand this is outweighed by copy cats with no interest whatsoever in talent have no interest in employees welfare and cringe every-time someone suggest a better deal for everyone, there isn't even a national trades school (TAFE) where apprentices are taught the finer points of a particular trade, just how many apprentices are employed in Thailand to do a proper and comprehensive trade course.

[upena]

The only chart Thailand ranks high in is road deaths

[maidee]

thailand, hub of fakes & copy

no need for inventiveness

[Lobo4819]

Where does it start? Poor education, "knowing your place" so as not to put forth fresh ideas, no emphasis on quality......... On a map, Thailand is located somewhere between "don't know" and "don't care."

[jonclark]

This article seems to have been presented in a rather piece-meal fashion. What it seems to suggest is that 'Thais / Thailand lacks competitiveness'.And then skirts completely around any analysis of why this maybe. When the white elephant in the room is blatantly obvious.

A dysfunctional education system, combined with stringent anti-foreigner / protectionism of jobs and trade policies have combined to create a sadly dismal situation where the acquisition of new skills / knowledge and ways of thinking either through education, employment or on the job professional development and becoming a competitive modern country are in direct opposition to each other.

Thailand will never encourage skilled workers to come here and share their skills, when their trade is ring-fenced for Thais

If Thailand wants to be competitive, it better get into the competition.

[klauskunkel]

It finds that Thailand's modest showing is due to a struggle in imparting employable skills

However it struggles in attracting talent

"struggle" implicates an expenditure of energy, or at least a desire to achieve a result...I don't think Thailand is struggling at all.

[manhood]

No wonder if you see the work skills, education in families and schools and universities!

And on the other side the THAINESS keeps those teachers and tutors away from helping and treaching THAILAND

[clockman]

Also good at chanting!

[jacky54]

They can speak Thai better than anyone though and have some of the best uniforms!

[ginbkk]

This news just supports what we already knew for a loooooong time.

No surpirse, at all.

[Christie Paul]

Despite being relatively inexpensive, having a pleasant climate, almost tolerable infrastructure and other plusses, the authorities have through their regulations made the place uncompetitive.

Bizarre immigration regulations and those that govern doing business, ensure that small investors, entrepreneurs, creative talent and traders are obliged to avoid Thailand.

It now has an international reputation of being brutally hostile for small to medium business's.

[Chang_paarp]

I am surprised that Thailand rated so highly on the index. For all the reasons listed above they are destined to continue the slide down the list.

[wabothai]

Well they could start with listening to free offering of better ways.

[FangFerang]

Preaching conformity to people from birth negates critical thinking, and runs contrary to someone promoting their own talent (which causes successful talents to stand out from the crowd and, by definition, become non-conformist). The only talent arena where this is not true is in sport, where players then represent a team and are still more group-conscious than self-conscious.

You cannot make a person a robot and then complain they lack original ideas, nor can you expect more from someone who has been indoctrinated since birth into believing they are unimportant and should exhibit self-sacrifice for the country because it is more vital than personal success in any endeavor.

This equates to -- "It's very important to be unimportant!

China has the same problem. Long ago, several of their Emperors rewarded invention and achievement from any sector of society. Now their innovations are merely improvements of copied designs.

No wonder the current government wants stronger ties with China.

I think, in all fairness, the people who structured this survey should be "made to understand" (at a military camp, no less) that Thailand actually ranks first in all metrics, and was a perfect society before elections ever happened here....well, it was a perfect society... for a few.

[FangFerang]

" traditional hierarchies and bureaucracy in many Asian corporates often hold back openness, transparency and empowerment"

In other words, why did the Big Boss' son get the lowest test scores and the highest paid position? And, why does my anus hurt?

[Suffinator]

The only chart Thailand ranks high in is road deaths

That's not fair ... they also have 6.5 times the gun crime rate compared to the US and the US has 6 times the population; now that has to be a notable achievement.

[starky]

Don't worry about attracting international talent concentrate on developing some. How many internationally recognised, world renowned Thai Scientists, Artists, Musicians, Athletes, Inventors, Directors, Actors, Comedians, Intellectuals (ad your own particular interest ad nauseum) are there? .... Finished yet, don't even have to take your shoes and socks off

[zydeco]

Switzerland? For doing what? Inventing the cuckoo clock?