Talent Management for the Forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community The Case of Industrial Companies in Thailand

The free flow of labor which will result from thecreation of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has led to theconsideration of how to manage people in the ASEAN countries.This paper focuses on talent management in the industrialcompanies in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, RayongProvince, Thailand. It is aimed at investigating talentmanagement and preparations for the forthcoming AEC. It alsoexamines whether this talent management and thesepreparations differ in accordance with the company’scharacteristics. Quantitative research methodology wasemployed in this study. One hundred and twenty questionnaireswere distributed and 98 were returned. The findings revealedthat the companies in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate inRayong Province utilized talent management at a moderate level.Industrial type and company size did not show statisticalsignificance regarding talent management. It was also found thatthere was no significant effect of company size on the talentmanagement. Only one statistical implication was found—thatcompany size was significant in terms of preparations for theAEC. Respondents from companies of different sizes exhibiteddifferent preparations for the AEC regarding theirunderstanding the impact of the AEC and confidence in theirtalent management