Abstract

As a result of its pace of development, Thailand is now facing a shortage of low-skilled labour, especially in labour-intensive industries. An influx of workers from neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar, is now substituting for low-skilled nationals. The challenge of how organizations can retain and motivate low-skilled workers remains a major issue. The scarce literature and little focus on how low-skilled workers can be managed have given rise to this paper. In this paper, we aim to examine the effect of need satisfaction, job satisfaction and life satisfaction on organizational commitment and turnover intention. To gain an understanding of the variables affecting the organizational commitment and turnover intention of low-skilled workers, which largely remain unexplained, we draw on 400 samples from 13 randomly selected Thai seafood processing factories in Samut Sakhon Province. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling with exploratory factor analysis to confirm the path diagram. The results of this paper provide additional evidence in support of existing literature, need satisfaction and life satisfaction demonstrated positive relationships with organizational commitment at significant level ?=0.01, as well as evidence that contradicts current theories, job satisfaction showed no significant relationship with organizational commitment and, interestingly, turnover intention in low-skilled worker showed a positive relationship with need satisfaction. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of how employers can efficiently and effectively motivate and retain low-skilled workers in Thailand.

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