ThaiNGO

1. Project Summary

As part of the Strategic Framework for 2022-2204 Save the Children Thailand has been working on the strategic goal “Flexible pathways to decent work are accessible the most vulnerable youth”.  Following project activities in the Thailand’s Deep South, SCT has expanded its work on supporting female and male youth in reaching decent work opportunities in other areas of Thailand, particularly focusing on Tak Province. The support provided includes technical and soft capacity skill building, market linkages, internship and first work experience placement, as well as self-employment support. The comprehensive support package is designed based on the local labour market preferences, including skills demanded, growing industries, as well as preferences of youth who are to be supported. SCT has conducted Gender Sensitive Labour Market Assessment in December 2023 and continued supporting specific youth population including host and migrant youth to reach decent work.

This Gender Sensitive Labour Market Assessment (GSLMA) conducted in December 2023 will be updated with particular focus on the perspectives of business sector in Tak/Mae Sot area, taking into account specific context of the area, as well as opportunities that are identified both within the province and across the country. This update will ensure stronger engagement with industry representatives and better alignment with the demand side of the labour market. The study is to provide both quantitative and qualitative insights into the perspectives of representatives of different industries on capacities and skills that they are currently missing, as well as on the opportunities that youth could utilize.

2. Introduction

This document provides Terms of Reference for data collection, data analysis and report writing task under industry update of the Gender Sensitive Labor Market Assessment. The study represents update to existing research and will aim to deepen the understanding and the positions of the industry representatives on youth employment opportunities in Mae Sot district and Tak Province.  

This assessment will explore the needs and labour demand of industry representatives by engaging directly with private sector stakeholders and local businesses. Recognizing limited inputs of the private sector in the existing Gender Sensitive Labor Market Assessment, the study will aim to improve understanding of specific labor challenges faced by the private sector, as well as the opportunities this might present to vulnerable youth in the area. This assessment will also serve as a foundation for mapping local businesses and employers for future engagement and TVET service providers within and beyond the targeted region. Collectively, these learnings will be used to identify optimal TVET courses and guide the development of capacity building set to support employability of vulnerable youth.

As the existing study has well captured the perspectives of youth and local leaders, as well as some of the TVET providers, this update will focus exclusively on the perspective of the industry actors that were less represented in the existing study. The study will also examine specific approaches that businesses might take when it comes to engagement and employent of migrant youth, from both logistical and legal side. In order to ensure the impactfullnes of the capacity building opportunities to be provided to vulnerable youth, opportunities for internship and on-the-job learning will also be examined.

The study scope, key questions, intended methodology, reporting and governance, key deliverables and timeframes for its implementation are provided in the sections that follow.

3. Scope of Study
   1. Purpose, Objectives and Scope

This study is being conducted as an update to existing formative research  that has preceded the launch of the youth capacity building for employment interventions in the Mae Sot area. Following succesful implementation of activities, the study aims to fill in the practical gaps in knowledge that project team has experienced when dealing with the industry actors.

Scope: To ensure the collection of adequate information, the study will aim to maximize the reach to business actors in Mae Sot District and wider Tak province. The assessment process will be carried out by an external consultant, with direct support from SCT. The study will aim to include multiple sectors and industries in the study, focusing on those most represented and most influential in the local economy. To avoid initial narrowing of the study scope, the mapping of business sbjects to be included in the study will not be driven by specific sectors, but the grouping and sectoral learning will be extrapolated for most represented sectors upon the completion of data collection. Gender aspects of the assessment will include identification of specific employment opportunities and pathways withing industried that have disbalanced gender participation in the workforce.

Building on findings from earlier study and observations that the assessment showed gender stereotypical responses such as young men being interested in motorcycle repair training and young women being interested in hair and beauty, the questions in this assessment will be designed to explore willingness and experiences of business actors for employment in non-traditional gender roles.

The assessment will be conducted in one coherent geographic area. Businesses targeted will be those who originate from the area or have significant operations in the targeted area, regardless of location of headquarters.  

The primary purpose of the study: the results of the assessment will be utilized to feed into the specific activity design within the launch of the new skill building project in the Mae Sot area funded by JICA, as well as to feed into the curriculum adaptation and development (transferable life skills, TVET, business skills development, etc.) to be provided to the targeted youth.

The study team will be required to undertake consultation with the SCT team, including SCT Technical team, MEAL staff, SOGIE focal and other relevant staff prior to the commencement of the study to further refine and prioritize the Study questions.

1. 2. Intended Audience and Use of the Study

Primary intended audience of the study are the project implementors themselves, as well as donor JICA.

Moreover, the study will be shared with the following stakeholders:

The study findings will be used for adaptation of the existing curriculums on TVET, transferable life skills and business skills development. The types of TVET courses to be implemented solely depends on this gender sensitive labour market assessment and convergence of the findings from industry representatives, community leaders and youth as the primary stakeholder.

1. 3. Key Study Questions

This assessment will aim to respond to following primary objectives:

• Identify locations and sectors that demonstrate opportunities for entry-level positions or semi-skilled employment with potential for vertical movement and scale. A particular emphasis will be given to identifying green sectors, or traditional sectors that demonstrate high potential for green jobs.
• Develop detailed estimate of employment opportunities within each sector, including: potential numbers, characteristics (internships, apprenticeships, formal employment, daily wage or part-time work, entrepreneurial), and skill sets, with a particular focus on green skills, accreditation requirements and income potential. This also includes identifying green jobs within existing sectors.
• Identify gaps and challenges for potential employers to identify and retain quality employees (e.g., skills mismatch), especially employees who experience systemic inequalities and discrimination, including in the green economy.
• Document current employment practices, as well as limitations that employers are facing in their specific industries.
• Document on the job training oppoertunieis, and maximize understanding on types of employment that include specific capacity building for new employees.
• Identify the ways in which gender and social inequalities impact employment process from employers perspective, including specific perspective on employment of migrant youth.

To achieve this, the consultant will be required to collect following information from the specific target groups:

4. Study Methodology
   1. Study Design

It is expected that this study will take approach of formative research, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods (including survey and key informant interviews).

The consultants are expected to include study design details in the technical proposal and if such design is not included, it will be developed jointly between the SCT and the consultant.

1. 2. Sampling

The assignment will investigate one primary stakeholder group:

1. Primary Stakeholders: Private sector actors, including companies of different industries with focus on those employing more than 10 employees

The sampling will be conducted by maxmizing outreach to existing companies and business actors, aiming to increase the representation. Having in mind limited experience and occasional reluctance of employers to participate in the research processes, the cosnultant will ensure multiple reach channels are utilized to maximize participation. This can include mailing list inviations, cold calling, scheduled appointments, as well as outreach via formal channels (letters, invitations, etc). The consultant and SCT will agree on the minimum reach to be ensured for research to be considered valid, as well as minimum process requirements that will ensure maimum outreach to potential employers.

1. 3. Data Sources and Data Collection Methods / Tools

All primary data collected during the study must facilitate disaggregation by gender of business owner/CEO, years of operation, location type (urban/rural/remote) and size of the company (small/medium/large). Micro-businesses are not to be included in the study data collection having in mind their limited impact on the labour market. Save the Children will coordinate with consultant to provide guidance on tools and classification schemes for this minimum dataset.

Save the Children has existing data collection tools that can be adapted to support the study. These include:

• 1. Employers and Market Actors - In-Depth Interview Guide
• 2. Key Informants – Green Jobs Questionnaire

Further support will be provided to consultant to complete the quantitative tool in order to ensure quantifiable data from the primary stakeholder group.

Save the Children and consultant will agree on provision of enumerators to assist with primary data collection and other support to be provided to ensure timely and adequate data collection. This will be based on the proposed timelines in order to ensure efficiency of the study development.

It will be a requirement of the study team to source additional external data sources to add value to the study, such as government administrative data, chamber of commerce data, etc.

Project design documentation will be made available to the study team that provides information about the design of the intervention. Aside from this, Save the Children will provide overall guide on the implementation of the Gender Sensitive Labour Market Assessment (SCI’s LMA Toolkit) that can be adapted to suit the study design and ensure coherence with expected results.

The study team is required to adhere to the Save the Children Child Safeguarding; Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse; Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying; and Data Protection and Privacy policies throughout all project activities.

1. 4. Ethical Considerations

It is expected that this study will be:

• Ethical: The study must be guided by the following ethical considerations:
  • Safeguarding – demonstrating the highest standards of behaviour towards children and adults.
  • Sensitive – to child rights, gender, inclusion and cultural contexts.
  • Openness - of information given, to the highest possible degree to all involved parties.
  • Confidentiality and data protection - measures will be put in place to protect the identity of all participants and any other information that may put them or others at risk.
  • Public access - to the results when there are not special considerations against this
  • Broad participation - the relevant parties should be involved where possible.
  • Reliability and independence - the study should be conducted so that findings and conclusions are correct and trustworthy.

5. Expected Deliverables

The study deliverables and tentative timeline (subject to the commencement date of the study) are outlined below. The Technical Lead, Project Manager and Research, Evidence and Learning team will agree on final milestones and deadlines at the inception phase.

Deliverables and Tentative Timeline

*All reports are to use the Save the Children Final Study Report template. Please also refer to Save the Children technical writing guide. Report is not to exceed 15 pages excluding annexes.

** The Evidence to Action Brief is a 2-4 pages summary of the full report and will be created using the Save the Children Management Response template.

All documents are to be produced in MS Word format and provided electronically by email to the SC Project Manager. Copies of all PowerPoint presentations used to facilitate briefings for the project should also be provided to Save the Children in editable digital format.

The consultant is to provide reporting against the project plan. The following regular reporting and quality review processes will also be used:

Verbal reporting fortnightly to the SCT MEAL focal by outlining progress made over the past two weeks and plans for the coming period.

A written Progress Report (1-page) by email to the Save the Children Project Manager every month, documenting progress, any emerging issues to be resolved and planned activities for the next month.

6. Reporting and Governance

The study team lead is to provide reporting against the project plan. The following regular reporting and quality review processes will also be used:

• Verbal reporting each week to the Save the children study Manager by outlining progress made over the past month.
• A written Progress Report (1-page) by email to the Save the Children study Project Manager every fortnight, documenting progress, any emerging issues to be resolved and planned activities for the next month.

7. Study Team and Selection Criteria

Interested consultants are required to submit an Expression of Interest in line with the provided template, which should demonstrate adherence to the following requirements.

Understanding of Requirements and Experience

To be considered, the study team members together must have demonstrated skills, expertise and experience in:

• Designing and conducti