Tourism and hospitality remains the most sought-after sector for employment among Thai university students despite the huge hit the industry has taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey by Universum, a global employer branding advisory firm.
Among companies, Google is the number one employer of choice for business and commerce students, followed in order by the Stock Exchange of Thailand, GMM Grammy, King Power, PTT, Central Group, Uniqlo, Shopee, BMW Group and Workpoint Entertainment.
The top 10 choices among engineering students were PTT, Google, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), Siam Cement Group, BMW Group, Microsoft, Toyota, Honda, Intel and Ch. Karnchang Plc.
The conclusions were based on an annual global survey by Universum that measures employer attractiveness and career aspirations of the future workforce. In Thailand, 11,554 students across various schools and faculties took part in the survey between December 2020 and May 2021. Respondents were given a list of 123 national and international employers, chosen through an independent nomination process.
Tourism and hospitality came first as the most preferred industry, followed by manufacturing, education, advertising and market research.
"Despite the economic impact brought by the pandemic, as well as tighter curbs to contain infections, talent remains optimistic about the outlook of tourism its related industries," said Pratik Sabherwal, head of advisory in Asia-Pacific for Universum. "This may be excellent news for the country's recent plan to reboot tourism."
The majority of Thai students aspire to work in the private sector (88% of business/commerce students and 84% of those in engineering), and 73% of business/commerce students and 74% of engineering students hope to work for an organisation with global operations. But publicly owned enterprises in Thailand scored highly in the Most Ideal Employer rankings.
Engineering students ranked the state majority-owned energy conglomerate PTT as their top employer of choice, and the state utility Egat third. The Stock Exchange of Thailand was ranked second by business/commerce students.
"During the pandemic, a time when employees of private firms potentially experience sharp drops in salary, future talent may be more open to well-established bodies in the public sector where salaries remain stable," said Mr Sabherwal.
"Our survey shows PTT is highly associated with attractive employer characteristics, such as offering a competitive base salary, competitive benefits, secure employment and having a high-performance focus, which are also the top four most important attributes engineering students are looking for."
In terms of communication channels, employer corporate websites remain the most common information source for students planning their careers, with 52% of respondents saying they relied on them, while 47% also use Facebook and 41% use Google to find out more about their future employers.
Among all university students surveyed, Google, PTT and Siam Cement Group were the three most engaged companies on social media.
Facebook is integrated into Thai people's lives more than other social media channels such as Instagram or LinkedIn. Therefore, students uses both the official company website to learn about the employer and Facebook to see how people are engaging with the company and what kind of content it shares about itself as an employer.
"Employers should tailor their branding by identifying their key differentiators and sharing relevant information when targeting different candidates," said Mr Sabherwal.
"Since employers in Thailand are active on Facebook, talent often uses Facebook to get a real understanding of the employee experiences; making the best use of popular platforms will ensure talent gets an understanding about what to expect working at your organisation."
Other highlights in the survey showed that students perceive diversity and inclusion (77%) as the most important topic for employers to address on their social media, along with advancement opportunities (75%) and thoughts from company leaders (73%).
The expected annual salary of university students in Thailand averages 431,689 baht, or 35,974 baht a month, with females overall expecting 10% less than their male peers. Significantly, the gender pay gap was 14% among business/commerce students and 8% among engineering students.