The whole process of the electron thermal emission by ultrafast pulsed laser is studied in the paper. When an ultra-short laser pulse interaction with the target film, first of all, the incident laser excites free electrons within the absorption depth, next, electron energy is transferred to nearby lattice through the heat transfer systems of the free electron and lattice, and by the thermal coupling between the electron and the lattice, the energy is delivered to the internal material. Therefore, in a short period of ps and shorter, the energy coupling of the electron and lattice can not be established. So that the electron temperature is much higher than the lattice temperature, the electron thermal emission becomes apparent. The characteristics of thermionic emission of the films during ultrashort pulse laser ablation are investigated using two-temperature model coupled with the Richardson-Dushman equation. It is found that electron thermal emission can significantly change the development of electron and lattice temperatures, meanwhile, the film thickness and laser fluence directly affect electron thermal emission.