Fast 60 Prozent der thailändischen Arbeitgeber benötigen Absolventen mit einer beruflichen Bildung und nur 29 Prozent brauchen Arbeitnehmer mit einem Hochschulabschluss. Dennoch ist die Hochschulbildung weiterhin beliebter, zeigt die Forschung.
'Vocational skills needed, not degrees'
Almost 60 per cent of Thai employers need vocational graduates and just
29 per cent require workers with a university degree, yet university education
continues to be more popular, according to research.
So, Thailand has
ended up with a surplus of university graduates and a shortage of vocational
labour, the research shows.
As a result, the problem of job mismatching
is likely to increase over the next five years, academics said on a panel
discussion about the challenge of producing Thai skilled labour and the Asean
Economic Community. The talk was organised by Mahidol University's Institute for
Population and Social Research.
Researchers Jongjit Rittirong and Reena
Tadee said the problem stems from society's negative attitude toward vocational
schools.
According to their research, most people highly value university
degrees while most employers need skilled labourers.
At the moment,
Thailand is highly in need of skilled labours in three sectors - motoring, food
and tourism, said Jongjit, in reference to information released by human
resource consultancy company Adecco Group Thailand.
Other sectors in need
of skilled labourers include communication technology, consumer goods,
construction and engineering.
Teamwork, language and communication skills
are the three most important skills that workers need to meet demands of the
labour market, according to Jongjit.
She said most entrepreneurs want
vocational schools and universities to be more connected to industries to
increase the opportunity for students to intern in enterprises, as most
university graduates lack practical skills when entering the job
market.
She suggested vocational schools and universities step up
cooperation with companies so students can be exposed to real work environments
for around two semesters.
She noted a World Economic Forum report, saying
that last year Thailand was ranked 31st internationally for competitiveness and
third in Asean behind Singapore and Malaysia.
There are at least three
countries in Asean that need improvement in terms of competency in English -
Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand.
Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines
have the advantage of not suffering from an ageing population while Singapore,
Malaysia and the Philippines have an abundance of skilled labour.