The extent of skill shortages and training needs of MNCs in APEC

This paper explores the extent of skill shortages and training needs of 625 multinational companies (MNCs) operating in eight Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, namely Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Thailand. Three indicators of skill shortages and training needs are examined. These indicators are 1) past and future recruitment difficulties experienced by MNCs; 2) perceptual training needs indicated by MNCs; and 3) level of employee turnover rate. The results show that most MNCs surveyed experienced difficulties especially in recruiting professional staff. There exists a relatively high level of employee turnover rate across six occupation categories. Areas of training needs are identified mostly in management training and job-related technical and interpersonal skills training.