Policies to improve the daily minimum wage for rural workers are hotly debated in the run-up to every election, with this year no exception ahead of the country's first general election in four years on May 14.
The topic often creates some tension as the industrial sector sounds the alarm on unrealistic demands for wage hikes that hurt the entire consumption chain, while analysts urge the authorities to prioritise skills development.
In April, there were rumours suggesting Apple Inc was considering setting up a MacBook manufacturing plant in Thailand. However, it was revealed on April 21 that Vietnam reportedly secured a deal with Quanta Computer, one of Apple's suppliers, to build a factory in northern Vietnam.
As multinationals continue to weigh shifting their manufacturing bases to countries that have competitive labour costs, Thailand faces a challenge. The country has been classified as an ageing society since 2005 and is projected to become an "aged" society soon, with people aged 60 and older set to account for 20% of the population.
Business operators have warned that Thailand might lose its appeal to foreign investors if it is unable to compete with neighbouring countries in labour-intensive industries and continues to lack the highly-skilled workers required to attract high-tech industries.
ACCELERATING RECRUITMENT
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) urged the government to accelerate the process of bringing in more migrant workers to solve severe labour shortages in the country, which have intensified in part because of the tourism sector's recovery.
A surge in foreign tourist arrivals may boost the growth of tourism and service fields, but these two sectors, along with related industries such as construction, face a shortage of more than 300,000 workers, said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the FTI.
The federation suggested the authorities sign more memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with neighbouring countries to bring more foreign workers into the country.
The government also needs to launch measures to allow migrant workers to work legally in Thailand, he said.
"The delay in the process of importing workers has caused many foreigners who want to work here becoming illegal migrant workers," said Mr Kriengkrai.
He said he believes there are 550,000 migrant workers residing in the country without work permits.
"The Labour Ministry is trying to legalise their status. We support that effort," said Mr Kriengkrai.
According to the FTI, the labour scarcity in Thailand is mainly a product of the pandemic, which caused the government to impose lockdown measures to contain the highly contagious virus at the expense of economic activity. Many businesses had to shut down, laying off many Thai and migrant workers.
When Covid-19 eased, many workers preferred to work in their home countries, while others switched to another career.
Suchart Chantaranakaracha, the FTI vice-chairman overseeing labour affairs, said the Labour Ministry is preparing to sign new MoUs with neighbouring countries in order to bring in 500,000 workers.
The number includes illegal workers, such as those whose work permits have expired. Authorities said they plan to improve the regulations to facilitate a process to legalise their working status.
"With this method, up to 1.8 million illegal migrant workers gained legal status in the past," said Mr Suchart.
The FTI is monitoring election campaigns regarding labour issues proposed by political parties vying for House seats in the May 14 election.
The federation warned that proposing hikes in daily minimum wages would cause a negative impact, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Wage increases must be jointly considered by representatives from the government, employers and employees, he said.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Montri Mahaplerkpong, vice-chairman of the FTI, said the manufacturing sector wants the government to pay more attention to the quality of workers in areas such as labour productivity, in addition to solving the quantity issue.
Many entrepreneurs have requested the authorities consider granting them a reduction in corporate tax based on the amount they spend on the upskilling and reskilling of their workers.
This would encourage companies to support work training programmes for their workers, said Mr Montri.
The FTI also agrees with the "pay-by-skill" concept, under which wages would be determined by the level of skill involved in the work.
In the federation's latest poll, which interviewed 218 of its member companies' executives, 68.8% of respondents said they wanted employees with engineering skills. Second and third in terms of in-demand skills among the respondents were data analytics (53.7%) and marketing (46.8%), respectively.
RAISING THE BAR
Chih-hao Huang, chief human resources officer at SET-listed Delta Electronics (Thailand), said up until now the company has not experienced a labour shortage, but that might change in the future as demand for electronic parts has been increasing.
"Considering the current supply for all industries in the country, we believe the labour supply is adequate both in terms of the balance between industries and for the electronics sector as well," he told the Bangkok Post.
"However, if our business growth is much higher than planned, our need for labour may increase. We still need to closely monitor global megatrends relating to our customers' needs before making any definitive conclusion on future labour supply."
Mr Huang said Delta believes in sustainable growth and the company prioritises hiring Thais who want to grow with the company.
"That is why we focus on implementing continuous improvement [based on the Japanese philosophy of kaizen] activities and innovation to boost all our employees' productivity and support their long-term growth, rather than only increasing headcounts at an unsustainable rate," he said.
"We believe that maintaining good staffing levels, with incremental increases based on our business portfolio growth, and upskilling our staff will help Thailand move up in value within the global supply chain and benefit our communities."
Mr Huang stressed the need for Thai workers to continuously improve their skills to serve the needs of the manufacturing sector, particularly high-tech industries.
"Thailand's electronics industry is becoming more technologically advanced. In addition to more engineering talent, we need staff with strong skills in operating and maintaining automated machinery and processes with varying degrees of complexity," he said.
"This includes basic knowledge of technology and quality standards, as well as problem-solving abilities and close attention to detail. These skills are also a big part of our internal training for our people at Delta."
PRACTICAL PROPOSALS
Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), said the government should accept that when it comes to labour-intensive jobs in Thailand, whether it is in the manufacturing or hospitality sector, foreign workers are required to run the production and services.
Thailand has been classified as an ageing society -- with more than 10% of the population aged 60 or older -- since 2005, so Mrs Marisa said it is difficult to recruit local workers while maintaining low wage rates as locals have plenty of career choices that offer higher wages.
She said labour shortages in general positions such as housekeepers, waiters and waitresses could easily be solved if the government signed new MoUs with countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, allowing more migrant workers who are well-equipped with proficient English language skills to enter the workforce.
However, Mrs Marisa said more critical concerns remain in terms of shortages of skilled and highly skilled workers, as different industries are targeting the same kinds of employees, such as technicians.
She said the hotel industry is struggling as smaller entrepreneurs cannot compete with large conglomerates that have the bargaining power to entice new graduates from vocational schools to work for them.
Industrial jobs or retail businesses under these large companies are able to attract "ready-to-use" workers through a systematic recruitment scheme, starting with offering free educational programmes or scholarships to potential students in exchange for contracts to eventually work for them, said Mrs Marisa.
She said given the demographics, the government should help the private sector expand the workforce by providing job opportunities for elderly people as well as lowering the minimum working age to under 18 for some part-time positions.
Mrs Marisa said there are a lot of young students from poor families who could provide casual, part-time work that hotels need to fill at present.
If there were appropriate measures to help them be recruited legally and with the correct level of protection, this solution would be useful for both the public and businesses, she said.
