JobsDB (Thailand), a recruitment agency, says the Thai labour market lacks skilled employees in technical fields, especially in the telecommunications and IT sectors that are crucial to the development of an innovation-driven economy.
Noppawan Chulakanista, managing director of JobsDB (Thailand), said as the government aims to transform Thailand from an efficiency-driven to an innovation-driven economy, comprehensive capable human resources are needed, especially in the technical fields.
She pointed to telecommunications, IT, accounting, engineering, science, banking and finance as fields with a shortage of qualified talent.
Most Thai students choose to study in fields such as humanities or sociology, which makes it harder for them to find jobs that match their profile, said Ms Noppawan.
She said most students don't have enough information to choose their fields of major in university.
"These students choose fields their friends are in or their parents want them to study. They do not choose in accordance with the labour market," said Ms Noppawan.
She said Thailand also fails to encourage Thais to study science and math in early education, which results in poor performance in IT and telecommunications. The Thai education system should emphasise the importance of these two subjects to students and how to apply them to daily activities.
These trends are present in the company's salary report in 2016, in which over 40,000 Thai companies were surveyed, said Ms Noppawan. The report divides jobs into four levels: junior (zero to three years of experience), intermediate (three to five years), supervisor and manager.
The three highest-paying fields at junior level are telecommunications, professional services and IT. For intermediate level, they are telecommunications, banking and finance and professional services; for supervisor professional services, insurance and accounting; and for manager property, science laboratory and R&D, and transportation and logistics.
She said Thai job seekers should enhance their language skills and learn how to work as a team if they want to merit highly paid jobs.