Thai Engineers’ Readiness to Cope with the Free Flow of Skilled Labor in the ASEAN Economic Community

Abstract

ABSTRACT            The objectives of this study were: (1) to study the readiness of Thai engineers to cope with the free flow of skilled labor (FFSL) in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in the areas of knowledge of the AEC, working skills and foreign languages; (2) to compare their readiness according to their demographic backgrounds: gender, age, education, position level and the size of the company; and (3) to study their methods of preparation for readiness to cope with the FFSL in the AEC. The sample size was 420 engineers, derived using the multi-stage random sampling technique. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Its validity and reliability were calculated according to IOC, ITC and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient methods. It was found that: the engineers’ readiness in the areas of knowledge, working skills and foreign languages was at a moderate level and; the comparison of readiness in the area of knowledge revealed that only the factors of position level and size of the company made a significance difference in their readiness in this area. The comparison of readiness in the area of working skills revealed that only the factors of education and position levels had a significant difference in the readiness in this area. Engineers with Master’s degrees had a higher level of readiness than those with bachelor’s degrees, and those who occupied management positions had higher readiness than those who occupied operational positions. The comparison of readiness in the area of foreign languages revealed that only the factor of size of the company made a significant difference in readiness in this area, with engineers who were employed in large companies having higher readiness than those who were employed in small and medium sized companies. The methods mostly used in the preparation for readiness were monitoring and studying information and participating in training programs provided by the company.