Manpower's office in Thailand was established 10 years ago to provide recruitment and consulting services for hundreds of companies as well as training in specific skills for job seekers.

Bangkok operations director Neil M Russell said yesterday that Manpower had been providing recruiting and consultant services for companies in the hotel sector since last year.

The company provides services both permanently and on contract to two or three international hotel chains that are set to open in Thailand. However, he declined to reveal their names.

Most of the staff required in the industry, from low-level to management, are local people.

Right now, Russell cannot estimate how long it will take for the hotel sector to become a major proportion of the company's revenue, but he said the picture would be clear next year.

Manpower is a global recruitment company with 4,400 offices in 72 countries, including 12 in the Asia-Pacific region. Its offices in other countries have been providing services for the hotel and leisure sector for many years.

Russell said an advantage of Manpower over its competitors was that it has connections with hotel expertise worldwide, which can be transferred at will.

He said the company faced a bigger challenge in finding people who really fit specific jobs. Companies demand employees with higher skills than before, particularly in information technology, engineering and management. One reason is the intensely competitive business environment.

He cited surveys by the government and the World Bank that show more than 25 per cent of companies registered in Thailand do not work at their highest level of competitiveness.

Therefore, international employees who meet the required high qualifications need to be imported.

 At the same time, the country should consistently develop the skills of Thai employees.

Another challenge in the recruitment business is the demographic and skills shift from rich countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Japan to other countries with lower incomes.

Russell said the populations of developed countries tended to be stable, while those in developing countries kept growing.

By 2050, developed countries will have a population of 1.1 billion while the developing world will increase from 5.3 billion to 7.8 billion, particularly in China, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil.

These shifts will affect companies globally when it comes to their management needs in particular fields, and they are seeking solutions.

Manpower itself is working closer with its customers to provide consultants to tackle the human resources problem.

Manpower's global net income in the second quarter increased to US$80.4 million (Bt3 billion) from $62.5 million a year earlier, according to chairman and CEO Jeffrey A Joerres.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation