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Thailand: Host of headwinds threaten employment prospects
The second wave of Covid-19, drought and a labour shortage, particularly of high-tech and digital skill groups are tipped to haunt Thailand’s employment prospects this year.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), said the Covid-19 crisis will affect entrepreneurs who have not yet recovered if there is a new phase of outbreak, causing a high risk of downgrading jobs and changing forms of employment.
Some workers, especially those in small enterprises in hotels and restaurants or retail stores, have a greater risk of job displacement. Self-employed workers will experience lower income as private consumption contracts.
“If the virus cannot be controlled, combined with delays in the distribution of vaccines, the impact on the labour market and employment will be severe in the long run,” he said.
According to Mr Danucha, the anticipated drought will affect crops that require a large quantity of water for production.
Following a continuous decline in water levels in dams since 2019, he said, the water supply in 2020 was low. The actual water supply in dams and reservoirs (as of Feb 14) was 16,151 million cubic metres, which was 1,176 million cu m lower than in 2020.
He said in the wake of the pandemic outbreak in 2020, employment in technology and digital enterprises grew significantly due to changing business models that used more robots and artificial intelligence and the internet.
On the other hand, production and upskilling and reskilling programmes for workers have not yet responded to such demand.
Yesterday, the government planning unit reported the impacts of the pandemic on the labor market in Thailand have resulted in higher rates of unemployment and lower hours worked in 2020.
The unemployment rate rose to 1.69% in 2020 from 0.98% in 2019. Average hours worked in the private sector also fell from 45.8 hours per week to 43.2 hours per week, a drop of 5.7%. In addition, the number of overtime workers (who work over 50 hours per week) fell to 17.1%. This implies that the workers had insufficient income to afford necessities. According to the NESDC’s household socio-economic Survey, household income fell from 26,371 baht to 23,615 baht during the first half of 2020, or by 10.45%.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2073351/host-of-headwinds-threaten-employment-prospects