How do social enterprises recruit workers? The case of social enterprises in Thailand

Abstract

This paper bridges the literatures on social enterprises and human resource management to examine the recruitment practices, specifically the recruitment channels, that are utilized by social enterprises to attract workers and how and why these practices differ from those used by more mainstream organizations. It uses the cross-case analysis approach and evaluates four different social enterprises in Thailand. These four social enterprises are located in different industries, including food and beverages, textiles and garments, printing and publishing, and entertainment and media. The case study evidence draws on semi-structured interviews, field visits and observations, and a review of archival documents and web resources. Through these case studies, this paper proposes that social enterprises typically utilize sub-stream or alternative recruitment channels that differ from those used by more mainstream organizations in order to attract qualified workers whose beliefs and attitudes are consistent with the objectives of social enterprises, to avoid severe competition in the labor market, and to foster the internal development of their employees over time. Thus, the findings of this paper extend the literature on human resource management, specifically on recruitment and selection practices, regarding how and why small and emerging organizations such as social enterprises compete with mainstream organizations to survive severe competition in the labor market.