Asean labour force needs ongoing training in age of disruption: experts

A key challenge from the digital disruption is the need to re-skill and up-skill human capital, starting from the government sector, said Christian Viegelahn, a labour economist at the International Labour Organisation.
Viegelahn was speaking last week to the Asean+3 Regional Economic Outlook 2019 Roadshow on the challenges and opportunities of digital disruption. 
The process of re-skilling and up-skilling must take account of whether the new skills are suitable for existing workers. Furthermore, barriers to entry in the market for new graduates will need to be identified in order to know what skills the workforce is lacking, he said.
Finally, he stated, employers need to embrace new technology that can be used to enhance the productivity of their workforce. For high-skill workers, these can be new methods of working such as tele-working or remote working.
Within the public sector, the older population is likely to continue working due to the insufficient pension system, he continued. The ILO has found that up to two-thirds of elderly workers in the region are not supported by a pension scheme. 
These workers will need to be reskilled to support themselves in the age of digital disruption, Viegelahn said. 
Given that Thailand has one the highest rates of mobile adoption, the impact of digital disruption or transformation will be widespread in the market. Investors need to be creative in finding suitable investment opportunities amid this changing market landscape, said Chat Luangarpa, first senior vice president, Kasikornbank.
Meanwhile, policy markets also have to be creative in their measures and be more proactive in supporting businesses as the shift in consumer behaviour occurs, he said.
In order for all industries to benefit from digital disruption, the “creative economy” needs to grow fast, otherwise there may be severe consequences in the local economy, Luangarpa said.
A key challenge facing our economy stems from the trade war and its impact on Thai exports, said Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office
“I would like the Asean+6 countries to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement so that the flow of goods between all 16 countries will improve,” she said.
As for coping with digital disruption, a key challenge facing the public sector is coordination. Different ministries in the country are not working together sufficiently to come up with adequate solutions to deal with the impact of digital disruption on our economy, Pimchanok said.
There needs to be a change in mindset within the public sector to start getting different ministries to work together and increase the connectivity between different ministries, she concluded.