Thai industry lacks skilled workforce

[webfact]

Industry lacks skilled workforce
Erich Parpart
The Nation

Kingdom's competitiveness in research and development depends on government's abIlIty to promote educatIon

BANGKOK: -- The Lack of skilled workers is hampering the advancement of research and development in industry, while the government should pay more attention to education and labour development to increase the country's competitiveness, European businesses and a labour foundation said last week.

"In manufacturing, our investments are always scoped for 10 or more years so what's going to happen in the short term is actually much less important than the mid and long terms.

"Right now we are seeing a lot of new investments going into Thailand and many new projects are being discussed, so there will be even more demand for skilled labour in the future," said Uli Kaiser, president of the Thai European Business Association.

TEBA said a large part of Thailand's academic population is in government as officials because they have to pay back their grants.

These high-skilled workers should have an earlier release from their government duty so that they have the freedom to join the private sector to help increase the country's manufacturing prowess via the infrastructure that has already been set up by the private sector, it said.

"Most manufacturers already have R&D infrastructure such as an RDI [research, development and innovation] departments equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, but they have difficulty finding high-skilled people to operate it," he said

TEBA is ready to support such public and private partnerships in terms of R&D efforts and its members are eager to cooperate with the government in this respect.

"The overall risk in terms of long-term investment in Thailand is very low while the potential rewards are very high due to the strategic location along with the best infrastructure for manufacturers in Southeast Asia.

"But to move forward in the development of R&D requires long-term investment in education and human development and the association is willing to support the government in this public-private effort," he said.

Chanchot Jombunud, secretary-general of the Foundation for Integrated Human Development Centre, said that to tackle the problem of skilled labour shortages, the government has to change its mind-set for grading students and businesses have to change their mind-set for investing in human resources.

The entire educational system including institutions and teachers should stop seeing students who have bad grades as failed individuals and try to support what the students are good at instead of branding them with what they are not.

"Not every student is good in math and science. Some may be better in handicrafts and art and that does not mean that they are bad students.

"Any kind of talent should be fostered and no one should be looked down upon just because they have bad academic grades.

"Right now the system and society are discouraging students with bad grades from going to school or even trying because they are crucified every time they get a bad grade while gaining little recognition for their talent in other fields," he said.

More students would join vocational and polytechnic schools if they were given an equal opportunity and the same recognition as bachelor degree students, while the government can support this mind-set by making sure that blue-collar workers receive the same opportunities and welfare as white-collar workers.

Thai schools should find out what their students want for a job at the beginning of high school and try to support and guide them towards their career path while keeping a record of the students' career choices so that agencies like the National Economic and Social Development Board can use the data to forge the county's long-term development plan.

The mind-set of operators should also be changed. They should be encouraged to understand that investment in human resources such as training and further education will provide good returns for their businesses.

However, it takes time for such investment to bear fruit so the government should provide incentives and capital for operators, especially small and medium enterprises, to help them with the cost for such investment.

"Capitalism encourages operators to only think about lowering cost to increase profit, so they are reluctant to spend money to develop their workforce.

"Operators are afraid that trained workers will end up leaving in the future so they are reluctant to spend. Therefore, the government should provide some kind of incentive to encourage operators to spend money on training their employees," he added.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Industry-lacks-skilled-workforce-30254158.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-16

[noitom]

Lots of factual errors in this article. A good demonstration of useless Thai content free writing.

[ezzra]

Nothing to do with skilled workface, has a lot to do with the worker's attitude, attention to details,

care, pride in one's craft and to give a damn to the work they're getting paid to do....

[Briggsy]

Lots of factual errors in this article. A good demonstration of useless Thai content free writing.

Since the article consists of quoted excerpts from 2 speakers, where is the free writing?

The only glaring error is that people join the government to pay back grants. Actually I think they join the government for a whole bunch of reasons, not one of which is to pay back the grant. Repayment of the grant only kicks in at a minimum salary level.

[thesetat2013]

It says Thai schools should learn about what the students want to do in the future and guide them to this goal! Isn't that what a career counselor does?

[konying]

Thailand does not lack skilled labor, Thailand lacks people with desire to succeed and desire to work.

One of the latest statements by Labor MInistry was that 600 000 lost their jobs, yet "looking for staff" hanging on every shop front.

Personally, i am badly short staffed for past 3 months, even struggle to get just a part time cleaner.

Part time cleaners, show up for interview 30-45 mins late without even a "sorry"

[Somtamnication]

Let's start the training in customer service. I gave up training them years ago. But maybe a younger, better looking katoey can do the job better.

[kaorop]

Umm you want to be the best?, you have to compete with the best.

There are very few "bests" in this country and the restrictive labour laws mean companies struggle to

bring in the best from other countries.

Who would them impart their best with the locals raising the level.........................But why am i even posting this?

[ebean001]

I have made an observation after living here 9 years. It is 100% different (probably) then what you think.

The education system may be below average, etc, etc but the real problem in developing any skills in Thailand are 'parents'.

The responsibilty of educating your child is - the school? Nope. It is the parent's responsiblity. The whole country just does not get it. Parents simply are not with it. In many cases, they are also uneducated.

It really is the number 1 or close to it problem in Thailand - parents. They do a horrible job in raising children. Just be happy, feed them, no responsiblity, sleep with them until they are way too old for that, etc.

[Lupatria]

Is that why they brown-nose the Chinese?

[Mot Dang]

Erich Parpart .... I like this guy ! Knows what he is talking about.

I had a great deal of faith 20 years ago on the direction Thai education was taking. But I was wrong, corruption, the deterioration of Thai family values and customs in some quarters, laziness, and the wholesale adoption of materialism and hedonism has contributed to very slow development of the Thai education system. To me there has been the development of an unwillingness to learn, and to work.

Just as an after thought, have those expats living in Thailand for a while noticed that female students tend to excel. Is this a reaction to the male dominated society that Thailand has now become ?

[BestBitterPhuket]

Why work as a plant manager earning 1 million a year, when you can be a local police chief earning 100 million a year. Talent management in Thailand is truly a joke.

[wabothai]

All along we have been trying to tell you this, but you Thai prefer not to listen to good suggestions from foreigners (farang I mean).

Go ahead and dream of supertrains.

The Chinese will wake you up after you have been swallowed.

[wabothai]

Great leadership with vision. ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$).

[rickirs]

"The Lack of skilled workers is hampering the advancement of research and development in industry"

Not a problem. With better pay, easier immigration work visas, and less corporate protectionism, Thailand will have plenty of foreign workers and companies from the other ASEAN countries and the world at large to support Thai industries. Thais can sit back and remain "academics."

Edited February 16, 2015 by rickirs

[seajae]

the workers need to want to work in the first place, when you have staff that simply refuse to go out of their way to do their job or actually think for themselves it makes it pretty bad. While there are some that actually do a good job there are many that simply dont, laziness or thinking they are too good to have to do anything physical other than do facebook and play games is rife. Until such time that work ethics are instilled into thais it will continue.

[gandalf12]

Let them feel they are always right and you will never have development. Add that to the attitude that Thai's can do everything and you have a receipt for disaster.

To gain the understanding of technology Thailand needs to make it easier for qualified foreigners to gain employment. We have the skills and experience that Thailand badly needs.

[Chris Lawrence]

Hope they don't teach them about democracy?

[Soutpeel]

Let them feel they are always right and you will never have development. Add that to the attitude that Thai's can do everything and you have a receipt for disaster.

To gain the understanding of technology Thailand needs to make it easier for qualified foreigners to gain employment. We have the skills and experience that Thailand badly needs.

If you have the skills and experience that Thailand needs then the current system is absolutely no problem and I speak from first hand experience of the last 14 years,

what you really want is a system for those foreigner's who don't really have the skills and experience needed to stay long term in Thailand, that is what you are really saying

The fact a person can't get a job under the current set up suggests the skills & experience are not what Thailand needs, fact is a lot of foreigners have an over inflated opinion of themselves and what they can bring to the table as regards skills etc

Edited February 16, 2015 by Soutpeel

[mrmicbkktxl]

Industry lacks skilled workforce

Erich Parpart

The Nation

Kingdom's competitiveness in research and development depends on government's abIlIty to promote educatIon

BANGKOK: -- The Lack of skilled workers is hampering the advancement of research and development in industry, while the government should pay more attention to education and labour development to increase the country's competitiveness, European businesses and a labour foundation said last week.

"In manufacturing, our investments are always scoped for 10 or more years so what's going to happen in the short term is actually much less important than the mid and long terms.

"Right now we are seeing a lot of new investments going into Thailand and many new projects are being discussed, so there will be even more demand for skilled labour in the future," said Uli Kaiser, president of the Thai European Business Association.

TEBA said a large part of Thailand's academic population is in government as officials because they have to pay back their grants.

These high-skilled workers should have an earlier release from their government duty so that they have the freedom to join the private sector to help increase the country's manufacturing prowess via the infrastructure that has already been set up by the private sector, it said.

"Most manufacturers already have R&D infrastructure such as an RDI [research, development and innovation] departments equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, but they have difficulty finding high-skilled people to operate it," he said

TEBA is ready to support such public and private partnerships in terms of R&D efforts and its members are eager to cooperate with the government in this respect.

"The overall risk in terms of long-term investment in Thailand is very low while the potential rewards are very high due to the strategic location along with the best infrastructure for manufacturers in Southeast Asia.

"But to move forward in the development of R&D requires long-term investment in education and human development and the association is willing to support the government in this public-private effort," he said.

Chanchot Jombunud, secretary-general of the Foundation for Integrated Human Development Centre, said that to tackle the problem of skilled labour shortages, the government has to change its mind-set for grading students and businesses have to change their mind-set for investing in human resources.

The entire educational system including institutions and teachers should stop seeing students who have bad grades as failed individuals and try to support what the students are good at instead of branding them with what they are not.

"Not every student is good in math and science. Some may be better in handicrafts and art and that does not mean that they are bad students.

"Any kind of talent should be fostered and no one should be looked down upon just because they have bad academic grades.

"Right now the system and society are discouraging students with bad grades from going to school or even trying because they are crucified every time they get a bad grade while gaining little recognition for their talent in other fields," he said.

More students would join vocational and polytechnic schools if they were given an equal opportunity and the same recognition as bachelor degree students, while the government can support this mind-set by making sure that blue-collar workers receive the same opportunities and welfare as white-collar workers.

Thai schools should find out what their students want for a job at the beginning of high school and try to support and guide them towards their career path while keeping a record of the students' career choices so that agencies like the National Economic and Social Development Board can use the data to forge the county's long-term development plan.

The mind-set of operators should also be changed. They should be encouraged to understand that investment in human resources such as training and further education will provide good returns for their businesses.

However, it takes time for such investment to bear fruit so the government should provide incentives and capital for operators, especially small and medium enterprises, to help them with the cost for such investment.

"Capitalism encourages operators to only think about lowering cost to increase profit, so they are reluctant to spend money to develop their workforce.

"Operators are afraid that trained workers will end up leaving in the future so they are reluctant to spend. Therefore, the government should provide some kind of incentive to encourage operators to spend money on training their employees," he added.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Industry-lacks-skilled-workforce-30254158.html

-- The Nation 2015-02-16

[mrmicbkktxl]

skills and education are exactly what the current government and bkk elite not want for the average thai

[gk10002000]

Thai culture often inhibits quality learning. The whole face saving thing starts early. They don't handle failure and correction well, and seniors don't give correction well. While Buddhism stresses the imporance of less craving and desire, I think it can often lower a person's goals and desires beyond what is needed to excel in a technical field. I went through a pretty tough High School and a good Bachelor's Program in engineering and a good Master's program in Math. Lots of people got left behind or more discouraged than I got at times.

[Don Aleman]

Skills limited to staring at job to be done and scratching his/her head. Last " skilled " plumbers, ( 5 at different times), came 6 times spent about 11 hours combined, almost bald, and leak remained ! All came with absolutely no tools but I have a fair selection of my own. " Skilled ?

[trogers]

Thailand does not lack skilled labor, Thailand lacks people with desire to succeed and desire to work.

One of the latest statements by Labor MInistry was that 600 000 lost their jobs, yet "looking for staff" hanging on every shop front.

Personally, i am badly short staffed for past 3 months, even struggle to get just a part time cleaner.

Part time cleaners, show up for interview 30-45 mins late without even a "sorry"

It is very difficult to turn farm hands lazing under a hut for half a day into disciplined and diligent workers.

[Thian]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Skills limited to staring at job to be done and scratching his/her head. Last " skilled " plumbers, ( 5 at different times), came 6 times spent about 11 hours combined, almost bald, and leak remained ! All came with absolutely no tools but I have a fair selection of my own. " Skilled ?

Almost every waterfeature in Thailand is broken or in repair. If it works then that's for a couple of weeks before it will be broken again. Same with drains, Thai seem to not understand that water always flows to the lowest point.

They have great electricians though or painters

[Thaddeus]

Just as an after thought, have those expats living in Thailand for a while noticed that female students tend to excel. Is this a reaction to the male dominated society that Thailand has now become ?

It isn't true of all, but as a general rule of thumb, the girls know they have very little chance of getting a free ride through life, but the boys come to expect it.

I spent some time in the education system P2 to P6, in the youngest classes there is an even mix of girls and boys, but by the time you get to P6 the better performing classes are 80% girls.

As one poster pointed out earlier, blame the parents first.

[Lupatria]

Great leadership with vision. ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$).

I expected this post from Costas

[wabothai]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Let them feel they are always right and you will never have development. Add that to the attitude that Thai's can do everything and you have a receipt for disaster.

To gain the understanding of technology Thailand needs to make it easier for qualified foreigners to gain employment. We have the skills and experience that Thailand badly needs.

If you have the skills and experience that Thailand needs then the current system is absolutely no problem and I speak from first hand experience of the last 14 years,

what you really want is a system for those foreigner's who don't really have the skills and experience needed to stay long term in Thailand, that is what you are really saying

The fact a person can't get a job under the current set up suggests the skills & experience are not what Thailand needs, fact is a lot of foreigners have an over inflated opinion of themselves and what they can bring to the table as regards skills etc

mr. soutpeel, I have 45 years of experience in architecture and interior design as well as the hotel business and not over inflated,

as you put it so nicely .

so far in my 7 years of building a hotel, there has not been one interested in learning from me. Thai don't want to learn from farang period.

I challenge you to prove to me it is not true.

[SiSePuede419]

I remember telling a cake baker that sugar wasn't healthy. Oh no, cakes are good to eat all the time.

She sent me a picture of her and her friend grilling on a table. I said I don't like breathing smoke when I eat.

Haven't heard from her since.

Thai people can't take the slightest criticism. They actually believe eating sugar is healthy and breathing smoke is good.

That's why Thailand is number 10 in Lung disease and skyrocketing on the obesity chart. Geniuses!

[Tomtomtom69]

Lots of factual errors in this article. A good demonstration of useless Thai content free writing.

Since the article consists of quoted excerpts from 2 speakers, where is the free writing?

The only glaring error is that people join the government to pay back grants. Actually I think they join the government for a whole bunch of reasons, not one of which is to pay back the grant. Repayment of the grant only kicks in at a minimum salary level.

Actually that is not an error, but it's a fact. Thai students who go abroad to study and receive a scholarship, such as the much coveted Royal Scholarship have to pay it back after graduation. If they do not do so, their parents might have to sell their house because the government takes out a lean on their house as security for the loan and that their children will return to a government job after graduation. I know a number of Thais in this position and all of them are working at universities, essentially for their entire careers because that's what they're obligated to do.

One of the many errors in the article includes: "the best infrastructure in the region". Well it should read "some of the best infrastructure in the region". Clearly Singapore and Malaysia have better infrastructure than Thailand, although Thailand is not bad.