Thailand salary survey May 2006 (available on www.geminipersonnel.com))

A couple of highlights compared with 6 months ago:

-Most of the companies have implemented an annual salary increase during the first quarter of the year. The range is confirmed  between 3 to 5 %, mostly compensating for inflation.

-This increase has had no significant-across the board- impact on starting salaries in the different professional families.

- But companies that require solid language skills in either English or Japanese, continue to offer substantial premiums on top of  the market rate ( 25 to 30%)

-Also reflected in this survey round is the importance of Thailand as a supply hub to the rest of world (automotive, garment. home decoration, food…) by slightly higher compensation offerings for the supply chain professions ( purchasing, logistics, supplier quality assurance) than for others

-The IT market remains buoyant and good candidates are hard to find. Attracting them will typically end up in a higher salary than originally planned.

-Engineering, production, QA salaries stabilize and follow inflation

-From a quick survey round with candidates, we learned that bonus payments went beyond the established targets or historical averages. This looks like a structural answer from many companies to high turnover in the professional groups! Retention will also be a key HR policy for 2006 and  a challenge for HR Managers.

- The Personnel Management Association of Thailand confirms the expanding trend of providing fuel allowances ( new introductions as well as increasing amounts) to cope with transportation costs

Rise in jobless as firms cut costs
 
More people out of work at all levels in almost all industries
High fuel bills have taken their toll at all levels, as the number of people unemployed rose to 640,000 in March compared to 560,000 in the previous month, according to the National Statistics Office. A major factor in the higher joblessness is the higher fuel oil prices which have pushed up manufacturing costs and companies are adjusting their cost prices. As for educational levels, 150,000 had primary education degrees, 140,000 university degrees, 130,000 had finished grade 9, 120,000 had finished 12th grade, and 100,000 had no degrees or had not finished primary school
The Kasikorn Research Centre said in a report that the economy this year is expected to lose some steam because of the oil factor, high interest rates and the slowdown in investment and consumption. They expect unemployment to rise further to 725,000 or 2%