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Survey: 63% of Thai workers expect disruption
Nearly one-third of Thai employees are likely to leave their firms in the next 12 months as a result of digital transformation, according to a recent survey commissioned by Workday, a cloud-based human resource and financial application company.
The study, titled “The Drive for a Digitally Enabled Workforce”, found that 63% of employees in Thailand expect to be affected by technology in the workplace.
Conducted by IDC, the study surveyed 1,404 employees in eight markets across the region: Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
The respondents include representatives from startups, from established enterprises and across different genders, with a mix of 50% millennials, 40% Gen X and 10% Baby Boomers.
Respondents were professionals (36%), clerical workers (31%), service and sales workers (10%) and legislators and senior officials (7%).
At least 40% of employees in Thailand feel that their managers are not proactively engaging with them to “future-proof” their careers.
IDC estimates digital economy contributions in Thailand at 2.5 trillion baht in 2018.
“Digitisation not only affects business organisations, but also workers,” said David Hope, president of Workday Asia-Pacific. “The survey found Thailand ranked third for employees lacking digital skill set confidence.”
In contrast, Thai employees are the happiest in Asia-Pacific (96%), followed by Malaysia (84%), Australia (82%) and New Zealand (82%).
Mr Hope said that despite a high level of job satisfaction, more than a quarter of employees (29%) in Thailand are likely to switch jobs within a year because they are not ready for digital transformation, dissatisfied with their compensation, or lack job security or career progression.
For those who leave their companies, 35% of Thais said they would prefer to start their own business, compared with 12% in Malaysia and 10% in Singapore.
Mr Hope suggested workers transform themselves by learning new skills.
“Having a tool set of the right technology will help attract new talent and retain existing workers,” he said, adding that organisations need to have intelligent systems and insight to identify, retain and motivate talent.
Workday established a local office this year in Thailand, the third country in Southeast Asia after Singapore and Malaysia.
In 2019, the company plans to expand to the Philippines and Indonesia. Within the next 18 months, Workday expects revenue from Thailand to account for 30% of Southeast Asian revenue, up from 5% in 2017.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1487310/survey-63-of-thai-workers-expect-disruption