Thailand Ranked Second Worst In The World For Work Descrimination

[sriracha john]

Work Discrimination: Thailand second worst in the world

Bangkok, 28 October: A new survey found that Thailand rated second in Work Discrimination when seeking work, one of the worst results in the 28 nation study.

The country as the worst in terms in Work Discrimination when seeking work is Sweden, where 100% respondents to the survey felt they had been unfairly treated in the past five years because of either race, age, gender or disability.

After Thailand came Singapore, Hungary, India and Italy. The countries where the least job discrimination was felt ranked Luxembourg as best, followed by Denmark, Hong Kong and Great Britain. 40 percent of Norwegians felt that they have experienced discrimination when seeking work, one of the best results in the 28 nation study.

Talent shortages among permanent professionals are particularly acute in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Employers in Peru (46%), Japan (45%), the U.S. (45%) and Mexico (41%) are having the most difficulty finding qualified professional talent, which is causing wage inflation in these countries. Shortages are far less critical in Europe, with most employers indicating less difficulty finding qualified professional staff.

In Europe, less than 25 percent of employers said they would have hired more permanent professional staff over the past six months if they could have found suitable talent. Shortages of professional candidates were reported by only 12 percent of employers in France, 13 percent in the Netherlands and 15 percent in Belgium.

French employers reported the lowest wage inflation with only 8 percent of employers saying that talent shortages are causing them to pay higher salaries compared to a year ago. Austria had the highest wage inflation, as reported by 26 percent of employers surveyed in the country.

The survey shows that wage inflation was most affected by talent shortages in Asia Pacific. Employers in Singapore (55%), New Zealand (40%), and Australia (38%) are experiencing wage inflation the most due to increased competition for available professional talent. In the U.S., 38 percent of employers reported that talent shortages are causing them to offer higher compensation, and nearly half of employers would have hired more permanent professional staff in the past six months if quality candidates were available.

- Asian Tribune

[Ijustwannateach]

Many a would-be English teacher here, though native speakers, have discovered that it is a disadvantage to look anything other than white-skinned European- so it's something I can vouch for firsthand.

There's plenty of age discrimination and gender discrimination, as well.

Just read the English-language want ads looking for English-speaking Thais- which specific age, gender, etc.

You can be sure that having fairer skin would help, too, though none of the ads are so crude as to mention *that*.

"Steven"

[sriracha john]

yes, that was quite an eye-opener when I first came to Thailand and saw all the very specific "help wanted" ads eg. male, age 25-30. I remember thinking, "Geez, they can't do that, can they?" Quickly learned, of course, they can and they do.

[nostrel]

when you see the age ranges in job adverts in the papers they are so tight that its a wonder that anybody finds a job. but then we know that nepotism rules so jobs for the boys is the way

[meadish_sweetball]

The country as the worst in terms in Work Discrimination when seeking work is Sweden, where 100% respondents to the survey felt they had been unfairly treated in the past five years because of either race, age, gender or disability.

Well, the result couldnt be much worse for Sweden, could it?

One major problem in Sweden is that people with an accent or who look non-European are much more likely to be turned down even if they have equal or better qualifications. Swedes are still very particular about how their language is spoken, which is a bit unrealistic these days when 1 out of 9 Swedes is a first or second generation immigrant.

I refuse to believe it is THAT bad in the other respects though, methinks the respondents may be a little too sensitive. I don't see gender discrimination being a bigger problem in Sweden than in any other countries either, actually my experience tells me it is the other way round...

There are also strong mechanisms of appeal available for anyone who can reasonably prove they have been outmaneouvered for a position by discriminatory practices, which makes one wonder if they tried to use this right of appeal or just went home bitching about it without even trying.

As for Thailand, there does not seem to be any rights at all for employees - all the rights are on the side of the employer. The only right the employee has is to quit their job if they don't like how they are treated...

[younghusband]

The country as the worst in terms in Work Discrimination when seeking work is Sweden, where 100% respondents to the survey felt they had been unfairly treated in the past five years because of either race, age, gender or disability.

Well, the result couldnt be much worse for Sweden, could it?

One major problem in Sweden is that people with an accent or who look non-European are much more likely to be turned down even if they have equal or better qualifications. Swedes are still very particular about how their language is spoken, which is a bit unrealistic these days when 1 out of 9 Swedes is a first or second generation immigrant.

I refuse to believe it is THAT bad in the other respects though, methinks the respondents may be a little too sensitive. I don't see gender discrimination being a bigger problem in Sweden than in any other countries either, actually my experience tells me it is the other way round...

There are also strong mechanisms of appeal available for anyone who can reasonably prove they have been outmaneouvered for a position by discriminatory practices, which makes one wonder if they tried to use this right of appeal or just went home bitching about it without even trying.

As for Thailand, there does not seem to be any rights at all for employees - all the rights are on the side of the employer. The only right the employee has is to quit their job if they don't like how they are treated...

Actually I'm not sure the last part is correct.Under Thai labor law employees are given very generous payments in case of involuntary redundancy.Of course the slimier companies wriggle out of their obligations.But the good ones do pay up.

[sriracha john]

The country as the worst in terms in Work Discrimination when seeking work is Sweden, where 100% respondents to the survey felt they had been unfairly treated in the past five years because of either race, age, gender or disability.

Well, the result couldnt be much worse for Sweden, could it?

One major problem in Sweden is that people with an accent or who look non-European are much more likely to be turned down even if they have equal or better qualifications. Swedes are still very particular about how their language is spoken, which is a bit unrealistic these days when 1 out of 9 Swedes is a first or second generation immigrant.

I refuse to believe it is THAT bad in the other respects though, methinks the respondents may be a little too sensitive. I don't see gender discrimination being a bigger problem in Sweden than in any other countries either, actually my experience tells me it is the other way round...

There are also strong mechanisms of appeal available for anyone who can reasonably prove they have been outmaneouvered for a position by discriminatory practices, which makes one wonder if they tried to use this right of appeal or just went home bitching about it without even trying.

As for Thailand, there does not seem to be any rights at all for employees - all the rights are on the side of the employer. The only right the employee has is to quit their job if they don't like how they are treated...

and even that (quitting) is not always such a straight-forward matter for Thai employees with the common practice of requiring guarantors by employers and requiring a cash settlement (B40,000 in my missus's case) if a worker wishes to quit a job. Mind-boggling.

btw, I was rather startled by Sweden's placement when I read this article. I've known quite a few Swedes over the years and I wouldn't have thought that about Sweden. Granted, they've all been men not normally associated expected to be victims of discrimination, eg. white, middle-aged, males and not disabled (to use the survey's criteria). The only Swede I knew who spoke of difficulty in finding employment was because of a criminal history, which is a separate issue from the survey. Still, it was surprising.

[girlx]

it is so sad for people from isaan. a friend of mine aged 30 cut his hair, bought a nice shirt and tie, and nice shoes, had a resume typed up, and went out to apply for work in bangkok. he came back home ruined. he was told everywhere he went that he was too old, too dark skinned, they didn't like northeasterners, they wanted a girl, etc. etc. the same thing happened to him on the islands in the south. it's sickening that prejudice prevents people from being able to survive with a basic minmum wage job. i agree it is a serious problem in this country.

[Meerkat]

Well having lived in HK for 12 years, hiring and firing along the way, I'm shocked that the territory comes off well in the survey. Anti-discriminatory legislature is in its absolute infancy and is a joke. It's still common for women to have to send photos in with job applications, and workers from SE Asia (and, perhaps more surprisingly, the mainland too) are incredibly discriminated against just for starters.

The major problem in HK is that many people there just consider it normal behaviour, and not discrimination as such. Thus if they were asked if they've experienced it, they'd answer no as many simply don't see it as such. Indeed the overriding justification for the government's procrastination in bringing in legislation was prevarication along the lines of "HK isn't a discriminatory society so we don't need legislation to enforce against it." Yeah right, cheers boys; let's all just shut up and make lots of money.

Seems like it was only a very limited survey too (28 countries).

Ye gods, I sound like a liberal pinko. Who spiked my coffee???

[johnnyk]

No way of knowing what the survey entailed, how big was the sample? who conducted the survey? when? who was surveyed? and so on.

Real journalists would have included at least some if not all of the above in the story. Without knowing these things the "survey" is little better than someone's opinion.

meadish says, "I refuse to believe it is THAT bad in the other respects though, methinks the respondents may be a little too sensitive. I don't see gender discrimination being a bigger problem in Sweden than in any other countries either, actually my experience tells me it is the other way round...

There are also strong mechanisms of appeal available for anyone who can reasonably prove they have been outmaneouvered for a position by discriminatory practices, which makes one wonder if they tried to use this right of appeal or just went home bitching about it without even trying."

I think this last para might be hitting the nail on the head. Much easier for people to whine they were discriminated against than to understand/admit there actually was a better candidate. Not to say these things don't exist, far from it, but with no information about the survey itself we have no idea how valid the "findings" may be.

[jcgodber]

Perhaps with hard work and perseverance Thailand can become #1

This is very shameful.

[chingching]

A meaningless survey. How about a survey on murder rates. "Do you believe you have ever been murdered?"

[ColPyat]

Actually I'm not sure the last part is correct.Under Thai labor law employees are given very generous payments in case of involuntary redundancy.Of course the slimier companies wriggle out of their obligations.But the good ones do pay up.

That is only for workers who have contracts. Many companies do hire people on short term base, fire them, and rehire them. I believe the time they have to give employees a contract is if they are employed for more than three months.

A seminal case there was the "Bed and Bath" case, where several hundred employees made redundant camped in the grounds of the ministry of labour for a year or so, before they finally got the compensations they were entitled to.

A big problem here is that unions are still only in their infancy, and have very little power. Their leaders are intimidated, sometimes even murdered.

Conditions for workers are often reminescend of Europe during the industrialisation. Workers often work 8 hours and more overtime in addition to their normal 8 hours worktime. It has been use for a very long time that supervisors in the factories supplied these workers with amphetamine laced drinks in order to be able to do that work.

They often are locked in their factories, which has led to some horrific deathcounts during fires, such as the Kader doll factory fire in '93.

Of course there are factories that deal with labour issues according to the law, but for Thais without the Mor 6 certificate it is almost impossible to get a job in those companies. For example, the factories that are directly contracted by foreign companies are generally OK, but the problem lies with the sub-, or sub-sub-contractors.

Lack of education and knowledge of labour laws by the workers obviously contributes to these deplorable conditions. Many factories deal with the issue by saying that if one does not like the job, than the worker can go somewhere else, knowing that these mostly undereducated migrant labours will only find jobs in factories that are no better in dealing with these issues.

[meadish_sweetball]

Not to mention that union leaders and activists are uncannily prone to be subject to nasty 'accidents'.

[otherstuff1957]

If I'm reading the OP correctly, the survey is about subjective perceptions of discrimination, not an objective survey about actual levels of discrimination. Therefore, what this survey really measures is the difference between the actual job conditions and what the local job market perceives to be fair!

It's actually not that bad that Thailand is perceived to have a discrimination problem, as that means that people recognize that discrimination exists and that it is unfair.