On November 26, 2021, at 09.30 hours, Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin assigned Assistant to the Labour Minister Mr. Surachai Chaitrakulthong presided over the opening of the Employment in Thailand: Labour Market Transitions During and Post the COVID-19 Pandemic workshop at the Marina Grand Ballroom, 2nd floor, Novotel Marina Sriracha & Koh Si Chang, Chonburi Province. He said that the COVID-19 situation has affected workers and caused changes to the labour market. The changes include 1) Workforce reductions. 2) Reduced working hours. 3) Lower labour income, and 4) Advances and exponential growth of digital technology. As a result, career trends and employment patterns have changed. The Ministry of Labour has taken action to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in layoffs, unemployment, and changes in working behaviour and employment to promote and support all groups to have access to employment services, to have a job, a career, and a stable and sustainable quality of life. Therefore, measures to promote employment have been established. The key results are as follows: 1) Preparing students and all people groups for the workforce, providing information on changes in the labour market as a guideline for selecting studies and careers. 2) Preparing measures to promote employment and occupation. The results of operations include the new employment promotion program for new graduates by the public and private sectors (co-payment), which spans from October 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021. The project targets 50,000 people. As of November 2, 2021, the employment of 55,735 graduates has been approved to turnover an income of 3,213,122,750 Baht into the economy. It has also assisted employers and SME establishments in promoting and maintaining employment levels in reducing unemployment rates. Current results (data as of November 21, 2021) have 223,838 employers from SMEs participating in the project. It has maintained the employment level and promoted new employment for 3,068,152 Thai national employees. 3. Developing a recruitment system to which the Ministry of Labour’s Department of Employment has upgraded the online recruitment and employment service on the “Thai Mee Ngarn Tum” platform to provide job seekers with convenient access to employment. The platform matches job vacancies and job seekers in line with their needs, encouraging Thai people to have jobs that meet the needs of working in the digital era and employing changes effectively. There are 192,948 people who have been recruited.
It also sees that other workforce development activities and challenges will result in employment and support the changing labour market, in line with the workforce in the digital economy era. It also needs to develop action plans to support further changes, such as using digital technology to support the employment of vulnerable groups and specific populations. It aims to adapt both Thai and informal workers to keep up with the changes through development to upgrade skills and create new skills needed to work in the modern era, or up-skill and re-Skill in demanded fields within the service industry supply chain that has a demand for skilled workers. It will also focus on labour protection to promote decent work to provide workers with employment opportunities and security of life and social security.
Mr. Surachai further thanked the Employers’ Council of Thailand and the International Labour Organization for organizing this workshop. It is beneficial to the development of the country’s workforce. It is hoped that the results of the meeting will bring about a policy proposal on labour in the field of employment that comes from the opinions of all sectors concerned that will drive the country’s workforce development further.
The workshop focuses on facilitating negotiations on the changing labour market dynamics in Thailand, the current labor policies, and the needs of workers in different age groups. It focuses on targeted labour policies and practices to support workers during the economic and social recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. It is also an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss potential labour policies and employment measures that are appropriate for the changing world of work and promote good and productive employment opportunities for all employees.
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Division of Public Relations
26 November 2021
