Thailand
Thailand: Demand for IT jobs soars amid crisis
IT will be the most in-demand job category in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as organisations gear up for digital transformation, says job portal JobsDB Thailand.
Up to 7 million employees are expected to be out of a job during the crisis, the company said.
“Some 25% of Thai employees indicated that the virus outbreak had a direct impact on their employment,” said Pornladda Dathratwibul, country manager of JobsDB Thailand, citing the company’s survey taken in mid-May.
She said 9% lost their jobs and 26% were placed on temporary stop-working status.
More than 1,400 employees and 400 businesses were surveyed to sound out the impact of the pandemic on them.
The hardest-hit groups were those making a monthly salary below 16,000 baht, doing contract-type work, aged 45-plus or working at organisations with fewer than 50 employees.
Even employees with secure jobs experienced the impact of the pandemic, with 48% encouraged to work from home, 45% reporting a negative impact on their salary, 27% told they would receive no bonus, 20% forgoing a salary increase and 14% taking a salary cut of 11-20%.
The top five industries for employment during the crisis are IT; marketing and public relations; sales, customer service and business development; hospitality and food and beverage; and merchandising and purchasing.
“There will be a shortage of IT workers, since business demand for them will rise as businesses gear up for digital transformation, particularly the move to capitalise on online channels,” Ms Pornladda said.
In April alone, IT job searches soared 12% on the JobsDB platform compared with the three months before.
IT project manager, senior IT infrastructure, web developer and search engine optimisation handler are the most-searched categories in IT, Ms Pornladda said.
According to the survey, 88% of businesses are optimistic about the employment situation in the second half, saying they plan to resume recruitment activity again.
In the crisis, more than 52% of the businesses surveyed encouraged their employees to work from home; 47% adjusted their employment policies, and of these, 39% will not recruit and 12% will consider layoffs.
Some 33% said they would be willing to employ those affected by the pandemic, while 53% of the positions open in the next six months would be entry-level jobs suited to fresh graduates.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1939944/demand-for-it-jobs-soars-amid-crisis