A shortage of digital marketing staff is putting Thai businesses at a significant competitive disadvantage, according to JobsDB Thailand, Asia’s leading job-search website.

Managing director Noppawan Chulakanista said more than 85% of Thai companies are now facing such a shortage, caused by the rising number of internet users and increased digital ad spending.

With 56% of the Thai population or more than 35 million people being internet users, Thai enterprises have to be more active in digital marketing, she added.

In 2015, ad spending on digital media in Thailand exceeded 8.08 billion baht.

The need to hire digital staff has become even more urgent with the government’s promotion of the Thailand 4.0 master plan and an innovation-driven economy, said Ms Noppawan.

JobsDB’s database shows that more than 5,000 digital marketing jobs are now available, but only 700 have attracted applications.

“This reflects that more than 85% of businesses must be lacking staff for this field of work,” said Ms Noppawan.

JobsDB has found that the salaries of people working in digital marketing are about 61% higher than those of people working in conventional marketing.