Thailand’s economy was mostly focused on recovery in the past year, but foreign direct investments have streamed consistently into the Eastern Seaboard’s industrial sectors. “Therefore, demand for accounting and finance professionals stayed buoyant in the Eastern Economic Corridor throughout 2024,” relates Kanruthai Somchitrmool, Manager at Robert Walters Thailand’s Commerce Finance division.

Read on to find out more about Kanruthai’s expectations of the labour market and hiring trends for Thailand’s Accounting & Finance professionals in 2025.

Businesses look to build operations from ground up

In the Eastern Seaboard, companies tend to adopt a skill-based approach when sourcing for talent. As the region is still developing, Kanruthai finds that businesses are looking for well-rounded professionals who can take on the mantle for both finance and accounting operations.

More new operations are slated to go-live in the region in the year ahead, so hiring will revolve around finding pioneering talent with experience in establishing new finance and accounting functions. These candidates will be expected to handle authorities, manage license registrations, establish cost and project controls, and even conduct investment analyses. 

Well-rounded leaders wanted

Seeking well-rounded candidates, companies will seek out candidates with strong experience across all aspects of accounting and finance operations. Businesses in the region are looking for their pioneering leaders, so they will hire talent with an eye on soft skills like leadership, stakeholder management and collaboration. These attributes are key as candidates will need to recruit and form teams, as well as deal with many external vendors and partners.

The most sought-after roles in 2025 will be for finance and accounting managers, financial controllers, and plant controllers.

Get started on succession planning

The accounting and finance talent pool in the Eastern Seaboard is small and well-connected. Since the market demands niche skills and responsibilities, candidates are committed to existing roles and do not typically look to move. Those exploring new opportunities tend to proceed carefully and have higher salary expectations.

Benefits like insurance coverage and provident funds are a minimum expectation for candidates, particularly as these are provided by Eastern Seaboard. However, Kanruthai points out that many businesses have yet to account for these benefits as they are still in the early stages of operations, and she recommends structuring this as a standard feature of compensation packages.

When it comes to talent attraction and retention, companies may already be aware that salaries need to be competitive to market standards, especially since talent will be based in a developing region. Kanruthai suggests establishing succession plans early as the Eastern Seaboard is particularly prone to changes in the hiring practices.

“There remains a strong need to persuade talent to work out of this area, and as the region develops, the knowledge and skills required in the industry will also evolve,” she explains.

“Planning early ensures a healthy pipeline of talent that can support the needs of the business as it grows.”

Salaries high due to talent shortage

The Eastern Seaboard faces a shortage of accounting and finance talent. Companies are willing to pay a premium to attract and relocate high-performing professionals if they can lead operations as the business gets established. Therefore, candidates in the space can expect higher salary packages.

Find out more

Request access to our 2025 Salary Survey to benchmark salaries and learn more about key hiring trends in the accounting and finance sector across the Eastern Seaboard in Thailand.