If candidates looking for a job are queuing outside of your office daily, it’s a good sign and you can skip reading the rest of this article.
On the other hand, if you, like most of us, have to fight for every single employee, I suggest you read the following to understand the traps of arrogance in recruitment.
The demand for people in Thailand appears to outstrip the supply. Ask any executive or HR professional and you will hear that it’s a struggle to recruit the best.
Human resource crisis in Thailand
Thailand has become the latest country to address its declining birthrate, as expert models forecast a population decrease to 33 million in just 60-70 years; that’s about half of the current population.
The decline would also result in the Thai working-age population decreasing to more than half of today – to approximately 14 million people.
This dramatic decrease will obviously not happen from one day to the next. It has started already. More people are today leaving the workforce than joining!
Annual births in Thailand have fallen below 500,000 from over 1 million in 1970 (50 years ago), while the fertility rate has dropped from 6.29 children per woman in 1970 to 1.08 in 2023, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
As a result, the number of children will cross with the number of older persons in 2025, reflecting the rapid decline in fertility that began in the mid-1980s in Thailand.
In general, countries need to have a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per person who could give birth, to sustain long-term replacement of the population.
As a result, the declining birthrates will see the population age, at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on the economy as the number of working-age people thins out.
- For businesses, what are we going to do?
- How much can technology, AI and robots, replace humans?
- What will you do to keep your staff?
- Who will win the war for talent?
Thailand the third most rapidly ageing country in the world
Thailand is currently ranked the third most rapidly ageing population in the world.
The number of people aged 60 and over in Thailand now stands at about 13 million, accounting for 20% of the population.
- By 2050, Thailand’s ageing population is expected to increase to 20 million, accounting for 35.8% of the population.
This means that out of every three Thais, one will be a senior citizen. In practical terms, this demographic transition translates to challenges with care and support of older people.
What about China and India
China’s population boom has officially come to an end, with the country reporting two consecutive years of decreases (down 850,000 in 2022, and down by 2.1 million in 2023).
- The country’s population in 2050 is forecasted to be 1.32 billion, which is roughly the same as it was in 2007 (17 years ago).
Meanwhile, the UN believes that India’s population will peak somewhere in the mid-2060s, just shy of the 1.7 billion mark.
India’s fertility rate fell from 6.2 births per woman in 1950 (74 years ago) to 2.0 in 2021 (three years ago).
But India’s population will not age as quickly as its neighbour.
Those over the age of 65 will represent less than one-fifth of the population until 2060, and their share of India’s total number of people and will not approach 30% until 2100.
Headhunters, the extended arm of your business
Headhunters – executive search firms – are the extended arm of your company and are your best connections to the outside world when it comes to finding top candidates.
- Headhunters are not magicians though and cannot present relevant candidates from one day to the next.
- By definition, their assignments are difficult-to-fill positions, but keep in mind that this is where headhunters excel.
They have the capability of finding talented candidates and putting them in front of you.
We can bring the best up to the finishing line. It is going to be up to you to attract them to your firm and get the best to cross the finishing line.
Time kills all deals
Time kills all deals so you must respond quickly to resumes on the shortlist presented to you.
It is vital that the candidates do not have to wait for weeks. Not knowing is the worst.
We are all familiar with the feeling you get when sitting in an aircraft five minutes after it should have left. No announcement by the captain and we start to speculate about what bad things have happened.
Through our advanced search process, we have matched your required profile with relevant candidates and we are already beyond the screening process.
Saying that a candidate is not qualified and that you need to see more does not help a lot.
Remember if we don’t receive feedback on why a candidate is not a fit, we will not be able to avoid passing the same type of candidate to you again in the future.
Headhunters understand that clients can change priorities
We understand that job profiles may change. It is important that you communicate these changes so the headhunter can alter their sourcing and screening techniques based on this new information.
We can guard against wasting your time with unqualified candidates and our time trying to source them. A few minutes of your time now is an investment that will save you a good deal of time down the road.
Do not cut us out mid-stream, as you will be preventing yourself from gaining “inside knowledge” that the candidate is only inclined to share with the headhunter.
Why short-circuit yourself from obtaining valuable information and consultation, which can be incorporated into an offer?
Good and great candidates are in high demand and will be chased by recruiters – the recruiters from corporate HR and recruitment firms.
If you don’t get to the point quickly, get through the interviews and present a compelling offer, someone else will have hired your candidate already.
