Thailand - ASEAN member states’ labour migration policy frameworks need improving in order to increase mobility of skilled labour as envisioned by the ASEAN Economic Community, a new IOM report has found.

In Preparing for Increased Labour Mobility in ASEAN, the study comprehensively maps policy and rights frameworks among all ten ASEAN member states for facilitating skilled labour mobility, and provides a tool to assess each framework’s alignment with free movement principles.

Funded by USAID and the IOM Development Fund, the study reveals several challenges faced by high-and lower-income ASEAN countries related to skilled labour, including shortages, skills mismatch and an over-reliance on labour-intensive industries.

These challenges are exacerbated by the varying availability and quality of labour market data, as well as differing national standards in the classification of “skilled” or “highly-skilled” workers, which impedes comprehensive analysis of labour trends at both local and regional levels.

There is a lack of cohesive policies to meet labour shortages through appropriate education/training and immigration policies. Most ASEAN member states prefer “more/better training of national workers” to “more immigration” as the “best response” to labour and skills shortages.

The research concludes that broader policy and rights frameworks should be taken into consideration when conducting market analysis. It also offers a number of recommendations to increase coordination between ASEAN member states in the collection and sharing of data on labour migration.

The study was undertaken in light of the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community at the end of 2015. Speaking at its launch event in Bangkok on Thursday, IOM Thailand Chief of Mission Dana Graber Ladek said that the study highlights the importance of a holistic approach in addressing labour shortages.

“As economic integration between ASEAN member states deepens, the suggestions put forth by this study will help enable the region to achieve its full potential and build a strong policy framework that will be effective in overcoming labour mobility issues.”

The study is available at: http://th.iom.int/images/report/IOMAseanReportFinalLow.pdf

For further information, please contact Euan McDougall at IOM Thailand, Tel: +66 (0)2 343 9341, Email: emcdougall@iom.int