Thailand’s workforce faces two major challenges, says ManpowerGroup
ManpowerGroup says Thailand’s labour market faces two big challenges in the next five years – shortages of IT skills and English language proficiency.
To remain competitive in the global economy, the country must adapt to fast-changing technology and invest in upskilling workers, the global staffing firm added.
Thailand’s workforce is forecast to grow by around 0.6% annually over the next five years, reaching 40 million by 2026, said Simon Matthews, ManpowerGroup regional manager for Southeast Asia.
Pressure on the Thai labour market will come from increasing use of digital technologies and automation, which will have a major impact on many industries.
This will bring job losses in certain sectors, especially those involving low-skilled and repetitive tasks.
"Over the next five years you will see jobs disappearing, but new ones come in. Technology will not result in fewer jobs; on the contrary, there will be many more jobs driven by technology,” Matthews said.
“Who would imagine there are [jobs as] Youtubers and bloggers?"
Additionally, specialised skills such as data analysis, cyber-security, and artificial intelligence will be highly sought after.
ManpowerGroup’s chairman and CEO Jonas Prising said Thailand possesses the advantage of a growing workforce as opposed to the US, China and Europe where talent pools are shrinking.
Nevertheless, the biggest challenge for Thai authorities is to both upskill and reskill its workforce, especially in IT and English language skills, he added.
Speaking at a press briefing in Bangkok this week, Prising said reform in the education system was needed to produce workers to support rapid changes, while companies needed reskilled and upskilled personnel within their organisations.
He identified four main trends driving the labour market:
- It is getting more difficult to find skilled people to work.
- Technology use was fast-tracked from 5% in pre-Covid times to 40% during the pandemic as people worked remotely.
- More people are embracing the idea of work-life balance.
- Companies are adopting flexible perspectives and rejigging their supply chains.
Lilly Ngamtrakulpanit, ManpowerGroup country manager for Thailand, confirmed that personnel in the technology and IT fields are in high demand in the country. Demand is also high for sales & marketing staff, she added.
