SE Asia facing skilled labor shortage: Poll<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Except for Singapore and the Philippines,
\nSoutheast Asian nations do not have a sizable pool of skilled,
\nwell-educated labor crucial in the new millennium, an Asian poll
\nshows.<\/p>\n
Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia will find it
\ndifficult to graduate into knowledge-based industries because of
\nthe limitations of their labor force, according to the survey by
\nthe Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC).<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong-based think tank said in a report at the weekend
\nthat Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong were giving emphasis to quality
\nlocal education but South Korea had been spreading its skill
\nlevel \"too thin.\"<\/p>\n
\"The defining feature of a country's competitive advantage in
\nthe future will be the quality of its skilled workers,\" PERC said
\nin the report ranking 12 Asian nations on the basis of their
\nskilled labor quality.<\/p>\n
Japan emerged tops, followed, in that order, by Taiwan,
\nSingapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, China,
\nThailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The grades were provided based on a poll of nearly 500
\nexpatriate businessmen living in the countries being surveyed.<\/p>\n
PERC said that since the Asian financial crisis which erupted
\nin mid-1997, financial constraints have further reduced the
\nnumber of people getting a higher education in countries like
\nThailand and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"This is probably the most damaging impact of the crisis in
\nterms of its lasting effect.<\/p>\n
\"One of the lessons to be learned from the Asian crisis is
\nthat the countries of the region need to focus more on
\nproductivity. This will be easier to do if there is a sufficient
\npool of well-educated and skilled labor,\" explained the report.<\/p>\n
PERC said that besides Singapore, the Philippines is the only
\nSoutheast Asian nation that possessed a labor force with the
\ndepth needed to move beyond a manufacturing focus to high value-
\nadded functions.<\/p>\n
\"If Manila plays its cards right, it should be able to profit
\nfrom the labor shortcomings in other Asian countries,\" it said.<\/p>\n
But PERC cautioned that the Philippine government was doing
\nlittle to realize this potential, and many domestic forces were
\nmore concerned with protecting their position in the local market
\nthan with giving the country a more external orientation.<\/p>\n
The report also said it would be much more difficult for
\nThailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia to stake out a claim
\nfor themselves in real \"knowledge\" industries and move up the
\nvalue-added chain.<\/p>\n
Malaysia may have a head start over the others but still the
\nlimitations of the local labor force were evident, it said.<\/p>\n
But the situation is even more difficult for Thailand, Vietnam
\nand Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Vietnam was passed by Asia's first phase of industrialization
\nand is now starting from a much lower base than all but
\nneighboring Laos and Cambodia.<\/p>\n
Neither Indonesia nor Thailand had a deep pool of well-
\neducated labor before the Asian financial crisis which slammed
\nthe brakes on the region's rapid growth, PERC said.<\/p>\n
The report warned that the crisis was likely to widen the gap
\nbetween the haves and have-nots, saying multinational companies
\nwere no longer going to try to create \"self-sustaining\" units in
\neach country.<\/p>\n
This was because of the powers of the Internet and other
\ntechnology means which made more sense to centralize the mainly
\nhigher value-added \"knowledge\" functions in locations that can
\nsupport the lower valued-added manufacturing or retail operations
\nelsewhere in the region, it said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/se-asia-facing-skilled-labor-shortage-poll-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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