Although the structure of the job market varies between countries, graduates in SEAsia generally get employment in various government functions at central, district or province level. Especially in Laos and Vietnam the public sector is the predominant employer. Traditional forestry jobs dominate, such as forest department, forest enterprises, and research and education positions. However, non-traditional jobs in the public sector are also available to foresters, mostly dealing with environmental issues, national parks, community development, agroforestry, etc. In the Philippines, jobs as community organizers were frequently reported.
Private sector employment in forest industries and enterprises is most important in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. NGO's were reported to be important employers of foresters in Philippines and Vietnam. Self-employment was only reported in the Philippines. (Table 9)
The education level is important for the employability. For example, diploma graduates in Laos have difficulties to access jobs because employing agencies prefer graduates with higher education.
Table 9. Employment of forestry graduates, in order of priority
Indonesia |
Philippines |
Thailand |
Laos |
Vietnam |
Malaysia |
1.Ministry of Forestry |
1.DENR |
1. Royal Forest Department (RFD) |
1. Provincial Forestry Section (PFS) |
1. The State's forestry management agency (National, Province, District levels) |
1. Forestry Department/ State Forestry Officer |
2.Forestry Enterprises& Industries |
2.NGOs |
2.Forest Industry Organization (FIO) |
2. District Forestry Unit (DFU) |
2. Forest guard |
2. Forest Research Institution Malaysia (FRIM |
3.Provincies/ Districts |
3.LGU-Provincial |
3.Industrial Sectors for wood furniture and wood products |
3. Faculty of Forestry (FoF) |
3. The State's enterprises |
3. Private Sectors |
4.Other Ministries/Agencies/Enterprises Industries |
4.LGU-Municipal |
4.Industrial Sectors for wood chemical products |
4. Forestry Research Center (FRC) |
4. Technology transfer agencies (province, district) |
4. Forest Industries |
5.NGOs |
5.Academic institutions |
5.Industrial Sectors for pulp and paper product. |
5. National Agroforestry Research Institute (NAFRI) |
5. National parks, and Natural Conservation Zones |
5. Sabah Foundation |
6.Others |
6.Private institutions |
6.Thai Plywood Company |
6. National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service (NAFES) |
6. Technical High Schools |
6. Sabah Forest Development Authority |
7.Others: Entrepreneurs, Businessmen |
7.Department of Environmental planning |
7. Sciences Technology Environment Agency (STEA) |
7. Research agency |
7. Forest Management Unit | |
8.Department of Environmental Quality Control |
8. Department of Forestry (DoF) |
8. Input Material Suppling Companies |
8. National Parks | ||
9. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) |
9. NGO/GO Projects |
