Despite many countries facing recessions, Thailand’s labour market continues to experience high levels of employment. Tom Osborne, Managing Director of Hays Southeast Asia, says this should provide jobseekers with the confidence they need to act on their career goals. 

Professionals often make resolutions at the beginning of the year, leading to thoughts of change and progression within their careers and promises of finding a new role in the year ahead. However, given the economic uncertainty facing many countries, some professionals could be reluctant to act on their goals. 

Thailand continues to show exemplary resilience in its pattern of growth, with its economy displaying accelerating growth since pandemic days. A combination of growing international demand from China, Europe, and the US, a boost in tourism and stronger private consumption has contributed to projections that the country’s economy could grow by 3.9 percent this year¹ Businesses have taken notice and are gearing up to fill positions in various industries to meet these growth expectations. 

Now halfway through 2023, Yoke Pei Ong, Country Director of Hays Thailand shares the top industries that are currently hiring in Thailand, including which roles are in demand throughout 2023: 

Manufacturing

Growth in manufacturing remains strong, with the sector recording its 18th consecutive month of expansion². Despite cooling sentiment due to businesses adopting a more conservative outlook in June, healthy hiring trends continue to persevere, with roles for strategic supply chain management, finance & accounting, sustainability, health & safety, and plant controllers seeing high demand. 

Yoke Pei stated, “Demand for top talents in the manufacturing sector remains strong this year. Candidates with strategic capabilities and hands-on knowledge are crucial to establish the groundwork for a future in which industries are prepared to face crises, minimising operational disruption, and enhancing overall efficiency.” 

Sales

Increased consumer spending has led to ballooning demand for sales roles, especially in the Retail and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors. Capable product managers and brand managers with digital skills and experience with sales and operational planning are seen as crucial to meeting business objectives in the coming period. Demand planners with regional experience handling inventory forecasting are also seen as an asset. 

Business Services

Organisations navigating the path towards sustainable growth are paying more attention to finding and implementing the right workforce strategies. As workplace models grow more complex, companies are turning to business development and partnership specialists with Matrix Management skills to help them pivot and capitalise on this pool of quality skills and expertise. 

With data continuing to play a pivotal role in quality decision-making, organisations are cognisant of the need to be able to harness the amount of information available to them. Individuals capable of harnessing this data using analytical processes will find themselves high in demand for strategy and consulting roles within various industries. 

Technology

As organisations embrace digital transformation to unlock their potential for growth, leaders capable of spearheading change management initiatives are seeing greater demand. Candidates looking for Chief Digital Officers and Head of Digital Transformation roles should possess a keen approach towards transformation and profit and loss experience in digital business building respectively. 

Data scientists are also in high demand, as big data continues to be spotlighted in organisations looking to action on the growing amount of qualitative information at their fingertips. Individuals with knowledge in statistical computer languages such as Python, R and MATLAB will have an edge over other candidates. 

As the qualification bar for technology talent continues to rise in 2023, solution architects and software engineers continue to enjoy high demand across the industry, and candidates with a good balance of technical skills (JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.JS, GoLang, Java Spring Boot, Net Core etc) will be top picks. 

Yoke Pei closes with, “These are interesting times for both companies and jobseekers alike to navigate. As we see both the economy and the world of work evolving to change, adaptability and resilience will be key to maintaining business and career growth.” 

About Hays Thailand
Hays Recruitment (Thailand) Ltd. ("Hays Thailand") is a market leading specialist recruitment company in Thailand in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people across a wide range of industries and professions. Hays has been in Thailand since 2022 with an office located in Bangkok.

At Hays Thailand, we specialise in mid to senior level recruitment services across the finance and commerce industries. Operating across the private and public sectors, we also deal in permanent positions in the following industries: Accountancy & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Engineering, Human Resources, Life Sciences, Marketing & Digital, Procurement, Supply Chain, Sales and Technology.

About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in workforce solutions and recruitment, such as RPO and MSP. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2022, the Group employed c.13,000 staff operating from 253 offices in 32 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2022:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,189.4 million and operating profit of £210.1 million;

– the Group placed around 83,750 candidates into permanent jobs and around 250,000 people into temporary roles;

– 16% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 26% in Germany, 22% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 36% in Rest of World (RoW);

– the temporary placement business represented 55% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 45% of net fees;

– Technology is the Group’s largest division, with 26% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (14%) and Construction & Property (11%), are the next largest

– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA