An Exploring Human Resource Development in Small and Medium Enterprises in Response to Electric Vehicle Industry Development

Transitioning the automotive industry from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric vehicles (EV) has arisen as a critical challenge for global countries in achieving human resource development, owing to the need of new labor skills and replacement of automation systems. By applying a case study of Thailand's automotive industry in response to this challenge, we aimed to plot out the trajectory of changes involved in the industry's workforce during its transition with a central focus on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), in order to make sound suggestions to the government on how to build an effective policy for industry growth. An exploratory research design was adopted for the investigation. Both primary and secondary sources were collected. Interviews with key stakeholders, including official agencies, organizations in the business sector, and academic institutions, were conducted in a semi-structured format to collect as primary data. Meanwhile, secondary data were gathered from reports and other scholarly contributions that are relevant. All of the data that were collected were subjected to qualitative methods of analysis, including content and theme analysis. We found that the advances in technology and associated skills have posed challenges to the SMEs for the workforce relocations in terms of occupational shifts and skill development, with engineering demand potentially growing 10% while low labor skills declined by nearly 70%. We emphasized that without effective policies for establishing EV roadmap and coordination practices between public and private stakeholders, this transition would have a detrimental effect on the workforce development of SMEs, which would ultimately have a harmful impact on the automotive industry and the economy.