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Vocational graduates used to be highly sought after but this year is different
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
Thailand's expanding role as an industrial exporter, particularly of automobiles and electronic goods, has brought prosperity to hundreds of thousands of workers. But global economic conditions have changed dramatically this year and young people looking for a start in industrial jobs see their chances dimming.
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| Thousands of young people search for opportunities at a job fair held earlier this year by the recruitment firm by Jobsdb.com. KOSOL NAKACHOL |
Export orders are falling in line with declining demand in major markets, and Thailand-based employers are responding by cutting output, reducing work hours, freezing new hiring or even laying off employees.
All of this is dispiriting news for Somphong Dumdin, who began a one-year vocational course in mechanical engineering six months ago at the training centre of Hemaraj Land and Development in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (EASI). The first semester has already cost him 10,000 baht.
EASI has long been positioned as the Detroit of the East with more than 100 automobile-related factories operating there including General Motors, the Ford-Mazda venture AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT), and Isuzu.
"I want to upgrade my skills so that I can get good pay for working in an automotive plant but now the future does not look good. They (carmakers) are being affected by the slowdown," he said. "I have to wait for the economic recovery I suppose. When I finish my studies, hopefully the economy would start picking up."
While his course teaches wide range of mechanical skills, Mr Somphong is going to take a new course in electronic engineering. "I want to have as many skills as I can to be more attractive [to employers] when companies start looking for new staff again."
His thinking is in line with what educational policy planners are attempting to promote amid rising unemployment. In a boom economy, employers aren't as fussy about new employees' skills, but today those with more varied skills have an edge over their peers.
"If you study civil engineering, related knowledge such as mechanical and electrical engineering are good for you to learn when opportunities to get a job are tough, as they are at present," said Mangkorn Harirak, senior adviser to the policy and planning office of the Vocational Education Commission.
More than 400 vocational schools nationwide currently produce about 300,000 graduates a year. For many years the supply was barely enough to keep up with demand from the fast-rising automobile and electronics sectors.
"As well, management skill and flexibility about job allocation are vital, not only for new graduates but also workers who don't want to be laid off," he said.
Vallop Tiasiri, president of the Thailand Automotive Institute, says there there is almost no hope for new graduates, at least for the next year. "Definitely, the existing manufacturers will not hire more people. During the downturn, maintaining staff at the current levels is difficult enough," he said.
Toyota, the country's largest automaker, has decided to terminate contracts with more than 300 subcontract staff in line with its production cuts from December to April. The Thai unit of General Motors laid off 258 workers as its Rayong plant is suspending production this month and next.
Mr Vallop says the local automotive industry employs about 300,000 people, including subcontracted workers, mainly in parts companies. The assemblers' workforce is roughly 100,000 people.
"The industry has grown considerably over the past 10 years with capacity surging by tenfold from 145,000 units after the market collapsed in 1997 due to the financial crisis," he said.
"Japanese automakers have spent a lot on research and development to develop Thailand as their real manufacturing base."
Terry Weir, chief financial officer of the SET-listed electronics firm Hana Microelectronics Plc, agreed that additional hiring of new graduates in his industry looks unlikely this year and next year.
"Most electronics companies are experiencing lower sales in the fourth quarter of this year and into 2009. We expect most companies will be reducing staff levels," he said. "In the second half of next year there may be some hiring, depending on customer demand.
"As with most industries, experience in the industry is an advantage. The skill level of the people being recruited is matched to the position."
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