Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Global talent competitiveness: a plea for diversity
Christopher Bruton, Published on 31/07/2018
» The Global Talent Competitiveness Index is produced each year by the Switzerland-based management school INSEAD, with support from the leading human resource group ADECCO, joined this year by TATA Communications.
Training or enslavement? Making internship ethical
Christopher Bruton, Published on 02/04/2018
» "Unpaid, unadvertised, unfair" is how the UK's Sutton Trust described the situation of many intern workers in that country. Enough real slavery still exists in the world today (including both in Thailand and in the UK). There is certainly no need to introduce institutionalised enslavement into established workplaces. However, many of the characteristics of slavery are fully part of the conditions of modern-day internship: no pay, hard work, long hours. While torture is presumably absent, there is the mental torture of fearing that a negative employer's report may deny an intern a successful subsequent employment opportunity.
School drop-outs cut GDP growth
Christopher Bruton, Published on 26/02/2018
» The best educated nations are invariably the most prosperous. Among developing nations, those that have the best chances of sustainable growth to economic maturity are those where young people take the opportunity to complete the education cycle and can thereby enter advanced productive employment.
Human resource wish-list for 2018
Christopher Bruton, Published on 03/01/2018
» Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our New Year wishes could be granted in the next twelve months? Actually the wishes expressed below could all become realities, or, at least, a start made on them, if government policy-makers have the determination to address these issues. Our New Year wishes for 2018 fall into three categories: some that would enhance the skills of young people entering the labour force; some that would benefit those already in the labour force; and finally some that would benefit those in the evening of their working lives or beyond.
The quest for fair and decent work
Christopher Bruton, Published on 30/10/2017
» Workforces the world over are now demanding more than just a living wage. Whether in developed or developing countries, there are calls for supplementary benefit systems, opportunities to make meaningful progress throughout their working lives, the means to supplement basic wages with additional earnings, and treatment with decency and respect during and outside their working hours, within or outside of their regular workplaces.
Solving skill shortages
Christopher Bruton, Published on 31/07/2017
» With the emphasis on "Thailand 4.0" and the concentration on the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), there is much concern that the government's ambitious plans may be frustrated by the inadequacy of sufficiently highly-skilled workforce, especially of technological specialists. There is also concern that the emphasis on the EEC may draw skilled technicians away from other parts of Thailand, resulting in a "three nation" economy: the highly technical EEC, the sophisticated Bangkok business economy, and the rest of Thailand, deprived of technical and business skills and, therefore, also of prosperous economic activity.
Building bridges or barriers: bricks or brains?
Christopher Bruton, Published on 05/06/2017
» With so much attention now being devoted to "Thailand 4.0", the talk is all about innovation, competitiveness, sustainable development, value creation and a host of other expressions for which at this stage there are no familiar Thai language equivalents. There is also an immense amount of planning of enabling infrastructure, including high-speed trains, expressways, special economic zones, science and industrial parks, creative districts and even an "aerotropolis". All this is to be achieved in parade ground style, in a double quick timeframe.
Vocational Education: a German approach
Christopher Bruton, Published on 19/09/2016
» Thailand's vocational education is in need of an upgrade and advice is being sought from Germany. We invited comment from leading educationalist Michael C. Usher. Michael is a UK-origin engineer who has lived in Thailand for almost 20 years. He is managing director of Advanced Technology Thailand Company and has extensive Thai-German educational linkages; previously German Director of King Mongkut University of Technology (KMUTNB) Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), a Thai-German cooperation with Aachen University in Germany. He was also previously Director of the vocational training Centre, Thai German Institute (TGI) and is a well-known Management and Cross-Cultural trainer.
Can Thailand’s vocational education meet employment needs?
Christopher Bruton, Published on 13/06/2016
» Employers, human resource specialists, bilateral and multilateral government agencies complain that Thailand’s vocational education fails to provide the training and skill sets to enable young workers to meet the needs of modern industry.