Employer Perceptions Across ASEAN – ILO

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), a single regional common market and production base, will become a reality in 2015 for the 600 million women and men of the 10 ASEAN Member States. This will lead to the freer flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labour in the region. New opportunities for growth and prosperity are likely to emerge, but the challenge is to ensure that growth is inclusive and prosperity is shared.

For businesses, the AEC poses a range of opportunities and challenges especially with regard to their labor force. Given diverse labor markets, resources, and economies of the ASEAN community, the impact of integration is likely to vary from country to country.

ILO Decent Work team contracted EMC to assess the perceptions of employers in 10 member countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam) with regard to: access to and retention of skilled labor; human resource development and training; and competitiveness and productivity issues related to ASEAN integration.

EMC presented initial findings to the ILO and industry stakeholders at a workshop on ASEAN integration in Bali, Indonesia, and the final report to the ILO in Manila. The final report can be downloaded here