Thailand employers progress faster than global peers in terms of work flexibility, said Mercer recently when releasing results of its Global Talent Trends Study 2023.
According to the study, 61% of Thailand employers surveyed offer flexible work options for all employees, higher than Asia (50%) and Global (56%) averages.
Study highlights
- To combat the impact of inflation, more Thailand employers (27%) adjusted pay or offered cost-of-living adjustments to employees paid below the market median, compared to an Asia average of 20%.
- Thailand employers were also higher than Asia in providing a cost-of-living adjustment or other wage increases for the most impacted markets (33% versus an Asia average of 22%). This is a more sustainable way of managing compensation for organisations.
- More than nine in 10 employers in Thailand are focusing on how their benefits offerings can better boost employee engagement in 2023.
- For example, 48% have plans to expand benefits to be more supportive of all segments of the workforce this year (versus an Asia average of 40%). Yet, they are on par with Asia in ensuring the job security of gig workers – 46% have no plans to do so.
- However, employers in Thailand lag Asia in many other areas, especially in supporting employees’ mental well-being.
- Just 13% of employers provide crisis management support to employees following a traumatic event (versus an Asia average of 21%) and 23% provide on-demand access to virtual mental health providers (versus an Asia average of 26%).
- One of the areas employers in Thailand have faced difficulty in making progress on is enabling a skills-based organisation.
- While 60% of them (versus an Asia average of 56%) have a clear understanding of the talent needs across their organisation, employers have yet to catch up on the development and deployment of their talent.
- About three in 10 companies have an internal talent marketplace to facilitate talent sharing, as compared to 40% in Asia, and just 33% (versus an Asia average of 60%) nudge employees to undergo training based on their job and skill aspirations.
- On leveraging tools and technology to better measure and assess skills, companies in Thailand are also trailing Asia.
- Compared to an Asia average of 41%, only 22% of employers use AI-driven talent intelligence platforms to understand skills, while 43% use psychometric tools to measure potential (versus an Asia average of 53%).
“It’s heartening to see various types of flexible work models have been adopted in many organisations. However, this is just one piece of a puzzle, and we urge employers to prioritise overall employee experiences by reducing employee exhaustion and redesigning work with well-being in mind for a start,” said Juckchai Boonyawat, President of Mercer Thailand.
Leaders should also take proactive steps to safeguard the employability of their workforce by investing in their development, upskilling and reskilling their talent, and leverage technology while doing so, he added.
