| Abstract | Western Digital Co., Ltd (Thailand), employer of 38,000 employees (30,000 Direct
Labor). The biggest Hard Disk Drive Manufacturer in South East Asia.
Today, Western Digital Corporation is the world’s number 1 of Hard Disk Drive
Manufacturing; more than 65% is producing at their factories in Thailand. Western
Digital Corporation has had years of superior record of consistently growth,
sustainable profitability, leadership in Hard Disk Drive Technology and provides best
quality and high performance products to all valued customers.
Western Digital realizes that man power is the most important factor and resource for
the Company Business Success. The Company had labor shortage experience in 2009
after the business rapidly recovered from the recession. The research found that the
reason of the labor shortage was partly from the Government’s “Tonkla-Archeep”
Project which kept approx. 300,000 labors in the training program. After the Project
was completed, the labor shortage problem was slowly better. The Company could
recruit some labors to work with the Company, but with high resignations and high
replacement cost. The government minimum wage rate which based on ‘District’
rather than ‘Skill’ was a part of the labor shortage and high turnover problems to
Western Digital. Western Digital Plant is in Ayudhaya with lower minimum wage
rate than its border district – such as Pathumthani and Bangkok. On January 2010,
Western Digital adjusted its minimum wage to be equal to Bangkok to rectify the
issues.
Western Digital could find sufficient labors for its production requirement at this
point, but the more important thing is “How to retain them?” Good financial package
is not the only answer. Western Digital has come out with many studies, surveys,
researches, action plans and projects to retain its employees, which are summarized in
this report aiming to be. |