The Ministry of Labour’s Inspector-General and spokesperson Mr. Ananchai Uthaipatanacheep spoke about the survey results from the National Statistics Office on unemployment in April 2017. The statistics found 460,000 workers to be unemployed in that month, equating to 1.2 percent which was higher than the 0.97 percent in April 2016, increasing since 2014. The information was then connected to questions raised regarding the new government’s management over the past 3 years. Mr. Ananchai explained that the labour market is in consistent demand of labour whereby statistics from October 2016 to April 2017 show that employers registered 219,896 vacancies with the Department of Employment, averaging 31,414 vacancies/month, peaking in March 2017 with 37,491 vacancies. Professions in demand included basic skilled workers with a demand for 74,981 workers, followed by a demand for 40,540 service and sales people, 38,101 clerical jobs, 24,638 technical roles and 13,718 factory workers. Categorization into educational levels found the demand highest for vocational graduates with 82,022 people, followed by a demand for 71,759 high school workers, 36,476 workers with qualifications below that and 29,639 workers with a minimum of Bachelor’s degree. He explained that the Ministry of Labour has also arranged skills training in highly demanded professions whereby reaching out to discharged military, senior members and the disabled, as well as partnering with educational institutions. Training has also been provided to new graduates in preparation for the workforce and urgent employment programs were launched during the dry season for agriculturalists.
Mr. Ananchai further stated that looking at statistics of people receiving unemployment compensation from 2012 to 2017 (April), it was found that the statistic would fluctuate seasonally. In the first quarter of the year which is out of the farming season and end of the high season for tourism, the trend of unemployment is high, peaking in the second quarter and decreasing in quarters 3 and 4. For April 2017, the total number of insurers (under Section 33) was 10,523,934, an increase of 1.80 percent (YOY) compared to April 2016, which had 10,338,067, showing a 185,867 increase in workforce.
“Labour Minister General Sirichai Distakul has asked relevant units to be on watch so that data can be collected and analyzed. He has also focused on changing the role of the Ministry of Labour to respond to all needs of the labour market,” concluded Mr. Ananchai.
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Spokesperson and Publication Sub-Division/
Bureau of Public Relations/
Chaninthorn Phettab – News/
29 May 2017
