When compared with other key markets in Asia Pacific, Thailand salary increase continues to rank around the middle of the group. For pay rises in 2018, India (10%), Sri Lanka (8.6%) and Indonesia (8.5%) will lead the way in the region, while Japan (2.3%) will see the smallest increases (Fig. 1 below).
In Thailand, salary increase across all sectors over 3 years (2016-2018), a majority of the sectors shares similar trends. Construction had the smallest rise at 4.0% in 2017 and is projected to continue with the lowest rate of increase at 5.0% in 2018. Life Insurance is showing a decreasing pattern in the year-on-year figures; however, it is still forecasted to meet the average increase at 5.5% (Fig. 2 below).

The top 3 most frequently stated reasons for employee resignations are better pay, career advancement opportunities and relationship with supervisor/manager. "Companies in Thailand acknowledged these 3 factors well, however it takes time to build fundamental HR programs to improve them," said Pichpajee Saichuae, Managing Director of Willis Towers Watson Thailand. "Quick win solutions can be implemented to make sure that we differentiate pay, promote the right talent and most importantly, we equip our line managers with HR knowledge and tools to enable them to be good people managers."
In terms of variable bonuses in 2017, the results differ by industry, ranging widely from 1.8 to 5.5 months of base salary. Electronics Manufacturing and General Insurance have the lowest variable bonus at 1.8 months, less than the overall industries (2.4 months). Asset Management offers the highest bonus pay-outs with an average of 5.5 months of base salary (Fig. 3 below).
"Organizations need to understand that monetary rewards is just one of the components to help the firms attract and retain their key talents," said Tony Kantapasara, Talent & Reward business leader at Willis Towers Watson Thailand. "Understanding what drives our employees' engagement, and creating the compelling employee value proposition (EVP) that is tailored to each firm's talents are no less important."
Fresh graduates with a bachelor's degree can command starting salaries of THB 15,000 while those with Masters can request for THB 20,500 minimum. Top entry-level salaries for new graduates can be found in Engineering, Information Technology, Legal, Human Resources and Accounting & Finance.
Job functions which are difficult to recruit are Sales and Business Development (46.5%), Information Technology (28.3%) and Marketing (25.3%), respectively. While job functions that organizations have difficulty in retaining employees are Sales and Business Development (52.0%), followed by Customer Service/Technical Support (24.0%), and Information Technology and Engineering (16.0%).
Tony added: "In today's competitive race to attract and retain skilled talents, it is critical for the firms to understand industries' trends, and get reflections from the market of what matters to their workforce. This will help them keep their talents and maintain their competitive edge. A reliable source of data will certainly help organizations make informed decisions about their people."
