Thailand ranks third out of 19 countries in workplace digital skill readiness, according to a global customer relationship management service provider, with slightly more than half of the respondents in the country feeling prepared. According to the Global Digital Skills Index, Thailand attained a score of 48 out of 100, behind only India with a score of 63 and Brazil at 53. The global average was 33.
The index gauged the opinions of 23,000 workers in 19 countries, including 1,400 respondents from Thailand, about their readiness to acquire key digital skills needed for businesses at this time and over the next five years.
Some 51% of Thai respondents said they were equipped with workplace digital skills, compared with 40% of global respondents. Around 39% of Thai respondents said they were actively learning and training with digital skills now, and 43% believe they will do so in the next five years. Asked whether they had the resources to learn digital skills, 42% said they do now and 48% believe they would over the next five years.
The Area Vice-President and Managing Director of the Thailand branch of the firm stated that Thailand demonstrates strong confidence in workplace digital skills readiness with a leading index score and a higher level of preparedness and readiness than the global average. He noted that businesses need to continue to empower their employees to learn and harness the digital skills needed to support growing digital demands and equip them for the future of work.
Respondents in emerging nations such as Thailand, India, Mexico and Brazil are more confident than those in developed nations about their digital future. Some 76% of respondents in India feel they are currently equipped for a digital skills-led workplace, and 69% are actively learning new digital skills.
According to the index, encryption and cybersecurity are viewed as the most important skills needed by the business for Thai respondents, followed by e-commerce and digital trade, digital administration, digital marketing and collaborative technology.
The index shows younger respondents have greater confidence and ambition to learn new skills, with over one-third of Gen Z actively learning and training for skills needed over the next five years, compared with 12% of Baby Boomers. To enhance workforce development, Salesforce offers the free online learning platform Trailhead for people wishing to enhance their digital work skills.
In Thailand, the company worked with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency to launch a professional development (career Kickstarter) programme, aimed at levelling up digital skills for potential students, in November last year.
According to another report, The Thailand Digital Transformation Survey Report for 2021, the vast majority of businesses have been propelled by digital disruption with most executives globally admitting its transformative impact to an extent. It is therefore crucial and intriguing to identify digital disruption perspectives and approaches to digital implementation across companies in Thailand.
The Thailand branch of a multinational professional services network conducted a Digital Transformation survey from November 2019 to early January 2020. The majority of the companies have now entered a digital adopter stage after COVID-19 occurred compared to the digital evaluator stage before COVID-19.
Furthermore, the implementation rate of advanced technologies, except robotics, and basic technologies has all increased after the COVID-19 pandemic happened. This indicates a digital adoption of all technologies across business sectors at a rapid pace during the COVID-19 period.
The higher digital transformation rate coupled with an immense and unforeseeable impact from the COVID-19 pandemic across all businesses is evident. Businesses should therefore be more active about the digital transformation movement and the digital environment in the market especially during this turmoil time, the report notes.