Skills shortages threaten Phuket's tourism industry

[webfact]

Skills shortages threaten Phuket's tourism industry
Chris Husted


Hundreds of students at Satree Phuket School in Phuket Town were encouraged to explore the world of hospitality at the Careers @ Hilton Live event earlier last month.

PHUKET: -- Thailand’s hospitality industry is about to suffer a huge skills shortage that could leave businesses reeling if corrective measures weren’t taken soon, leading experts in human resources development have warned. That skills shortage will also hit hotels and resorts in Phuket.

The message was delivered by Dr Sjoerd Gehrels, Professor of Applied Sciences, Innovation in Hospitality, at Stenden University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, speaking at the 2015 Global Hospitality, Tourism Marketing & Management Conference in Bangkok last week.

Dr Gehrels was one of the guest panel speakers on the topic ‘The Effects of Tourism Development towards Business Expansion’ held during the tourism conference, conducted at the Pullman Bangkok King Power hotel on June 27-29.

While Thailand is often on the top of the list for best destinations, Dr Gehrels said Thailand was also recognised by a recent World Travel and Tourism Council report as being at risk to meet manpower demand.

“Thailand is about to experience the world’s biggest deficit of human resources (talent) for the Travel & Tourism Sector of -3.2% (negative balance between demand and supply of talent) from 2014-2024,” Dr Gehrels told the attendees.

This highlights the shortage of qualified applicants that Thailand’s tourism industry acknowledges has already begun, he added.

Dr Gehrels, an expert in human capital development, focused on employment branding as a strategy to counter the skills shortage, and presented relevant research results to support his claim.

Employment branding refers to the association between employees and their organisation and includes potential strategies companies can use to attract and convince prospective employees, he explained.

“Employment branding combines marketing and recruitment practices to allow customers, employees and other stakeholders, to recognise the desired organisation image,” he said.

“Employment branding helps companies to increase employees’ brand commitment making it more likely that they stay longer. There is evidence that companies in the hospitality industry that have started to implement a strategic employment branding vision are more conscious of their human resources management practices.”

Fellow panelist Andrew J. Wood, a 24-year veteran Thailand hotelier and the Immediate Past President of SKÅL International Thailand, presented a historical perspective to tourism development in Thailand.

He also challenged Thailand’s tourism institutions to keep pace with the private sector’s need for manpower.

“Future employees must have a sincere spirit of hospitality, with a passion for service and enjoy making others happy,” he said.

During his presentation, Mr Wood identified that Thailand’s tourism industry in 2014 accounted for 5.383 million jobs, which represented 14.1 per cent of the country’s total employment.

“This will rise to almost 8 million jobs by 2024,” he said.

“The skills shortage will affect the whole of Thailand, including Phuket, with tourism arrivals set to double by 2025 – this year 29 million tourists will visit Thailand,” Mr Wood told The Phuket News.

“In Phuket new hotels will add an additional 4,582 new rooms from 23 hotels which are presently under development. Approximately 40 per cent are forecasted to open in 2015, followed by another 22pc in 2016. This trend is absolutely set to continue.”

By 2025, Thailand will need 9 million travel and tourism employees up from 5.4 million currently – a 40pc increase, he noted.

“For Phuket, the industry will need to get creative. They will need to develop a human resources procurement plan in much the same way as they develop an annual marketing plan,” said Mr Wood.

What can travel and tourism business do?

“Employment branding will be important. Develop a buzz. Have potential employees wanting to join your company. Good benefits, great training and a fun, comfortable environment will all assist in securing team members,” Mr Wood urged.

“As we have seen in Europe, don’t just look at domestic employees for your potential labour pool. Whilst more challenging, I absolutely believe that we will see a surge in foreign migrant workers especially from our poorer neighbours.

“With China and Russia having become our key feeder markets, savvy owners are already employee native speakers from these countries. A trend I also see as continuing.

The downside is going to be that manpower costs will increase as competition increases and standards may slip, he added.

“More so today than ever before, general managers must be focussed on HR and in particular retention and training,” Mr Wood warned.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/skills-shortages-threaten-phuket-tourism-industry-52997.php

-- Phuket News 2015-06-30

[canopus1969]

Not just the hospitality industry, there are skill shortages in most industries because of the poor education/training

[KarenBravo]

Don't worry. Phuket's "hospitality industry" is going to shrink to meet supply.

Just wait for next high season. It will confirm the trend.

[Crazy chef 1]

thankfully the Asean community will kick in soon...my only concern is that my Thai friends might get unemployed...

[Manbing]

Waiting for the resulting deluge of insults about the lack of skills across Thailand

Edited June 30, 2015 by Manbing

[KarenBravo]

Waiting for the resulting deluge of insults about the lack of skills in Thailand from TV posters

Isn't that partly what the article is about?

[Manbing]

Waiting for the resulting deluge of insults about the lack of skills in Thailand from TV posters

Isn't that partly what the article is about?

Yes in part I agree.

Another part is...

“Future employees must have a sincere spirit of hospitality, with a passion for service and enjoy making others happy,”

Presumably that means not killing, scamming and beating up the tourists, as they enjoy a holiday in your part of the world.

I am not sure the industry in Phuket can pull that bit off too well.

[Jim walker]

Plenty skilful ladies in Thailand and one of them is now in hiding with her Korean friend in Pattaya as the police would like a word with her about some pictures on facebook taken in a certain club on Walking street.

[steveyinasia]

As with many service industry jobs, employees need to look at this as a career opportunity and grow within the industry. Many just take a job to get a job and leave once something better comes along.

[zaphod reborn]

ASEAN will fill the labor shortage with higher-skilled hospitality workers who actually can speak English. Then, there will be the same backlash as there is for foreign tour guides. Protectionism will run rampant, and Phuket's labor office will restrict issuance of work permits for foreign hospitality workers. End result is bribes will pave the way for a foreign hospitality worker grey market.

[shaggy851]

Unfortunately these jobs are probably out of reach for the uneducated. English is a must probably even Chinese and Japanese maybe Russian. Maybe hotels can do an intake of less skilled workers and train them up. Otherwise I think it just comes down to families with status and money to send kids to high school and university. My ex girlfriend studied abroad and now works in a top job in a hotel on Koh samui, coming down to the opportunities that she had, a family that supported her and sent her to Australia to study. Most people especially essan origin are struggling to find any job with poor background and a poor education. Anything. My current gf brother with a wife and baby, moved to Bangkok to work construction. Worked 10 days in 3 months and never got paid a cent. I gave him the money for a bus ticket back home, gf sold her gold and now they have a small cart selling larb moo etc. Bangkok chewed them up and spat them out. An investment is a bus ticket to see if they can make a dollar.

[Johnny S]

Plenty skilful ladies in Thailand and one of them is now in hiding with her Korean friend in Pattaya as the police would like a word with her about some pictures on facebook taken in a certain club on Walking street.

Agree ... Plenty of local talent in Thailand, esp from Isaan ...

[kinmaew]

They dont care as long as you employ Thais thats all that matters. Civilized countries will employ anyone who can do the job

[konying]

Going to shrink ?

It's been shrunk for years.

[wabothai]

Said it before and say it again. Few Thai are interested in learning something we know. I have tried and given up.

The hospitality industry is in very urgent need of proper training of just the basics.

Time for o hotelschool in Thailand.

[Lupatria]

Skills shortage threatens every development in this country

[madmitch]

Dr Sjoerd Gehrels and Mr Andrew Wood. Both farangs. What do they know?

[steelepulse]

thankfully the Asean community will kick in soon...my only concern is that my Thai friends might get unemployed...

You sure about that? As far as I know, this isn't like the EU where citizens from another country can just waltz in and get a job. If so the Philippines would not have anyone left in the country and most tourist places in Thailand would be employing a number of competent English speakers from the PI.

[Reigntax]

They can offer retraining to all the Phuket's 'receptionists'.

[NamKangMan]

“For Phuket, the industry will need to get creative." - yeah, it would be real "creative" to just offer some proper public transport.

What a novel idea.

[sammygood]

and still the witchhunt is on for the farang working their and stealing jobs....