Needs Assessment for Labor Market of Korean Interpreter in Thailand A Case Study in Online Job Advertisement

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the needs assessment for Thailand’s labor market of Korean interpreters. To assess the needs, the focuses of this study will be on types of entrepreneurs that require the needs of the Korean interpreter, the qualification of job application, and areas. 200 online job advertisements from 1st February 2019 to 31st January 2020 were collected from websites for job applications and 15 Facebook pages for seeking Korean interpreters. The result of this study revealed that the entrepreneurs who mostly need Korean interpreters are in the service sector with 47.5 percent (i.e. hotel service, food services, healthcare and medical services), commercial sector with 34.5 percent, and industrial sector with 18 percent respectively. The result indicates that there should be a training management on Korean interpretation by closely emphasizing service industries to college students who study Korean language or related fields in order to lead the well preparation of learners for the increasingly competitive labor market and to to respond to the growing demand for business Korean interpreters.  In addition, 82.5 percent of job advertisement belongs to Korean companies while 12 percent of the advertisement is from Thai companies. As for the qualification, most of the stakeholders require bachelor degrees in Korean language or related disciplines. Besides, most entrepreneurs demand good communication skills including Korean listening and speaking skills, translation skills, and interpretation skills while computer skills are essentially required. Also, English communication skills are included in a special requirement. This study also indicates that 10.5 percent of job advertisement requires Korean proficiency scores (TOPIK). Bangkok is the highest-demand city for the Korean interpreter following by Chonburi, Rayong, and Samut Prakan.