On December 23, 2021, Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin assigned the Permanent Secretary of Labour, Mr. Boonchob Suttamanaswong, to give an interview to the “Clear Cut, Chud Jane” program about the Ministry of Labour’s New Year Gifts. The program also explained the trend of the labour market demand in 2022 on the Radio and Television of Thailand Channel NBT.
Mr. Boonchob said that in 2022, the Ministry of Labour would have 9 New Year gifts to bring happiness to the workforce. The gifts consist of the first gift, reducing the contribution rate of insured persons under Section 40 by 60 percent for six months. The second gift is a New Year gift to encourage insured persons who are bedridden patients and disabilities under every Section. The third gift is to increase the employee benefits in the case of COVID-19 to up to 100 times. The fourth gift is special privileges to support working capital to increase income from the Labour Fund, providing benefits to organizations of savings cooperatives in business establishments and state enterprises. The fifth gift is a 0% interest for 12 months from December 1, 2021, to August 31, 2022, from the Homeworkers Fund, providing benefits to over 6,000 homeworkers. The sixth gift is free DSD Online Training, providing free training anytime and anywhere from January 15 to 31, 2022. Services are available at http://onlinetraining.dsd.go.th. Training includes online greeting card making, safe driving, preliminary maintenance before traveling, and ten popular Thai dishes. The seventh gift is the DSD Services for car inspections before traveling. The inspection comprises 12 items, and the services will be available from December 15 to 30, 2021. Services are available via the DSD Line Office with government network organizations and the private sector traveling with the people. Information is available regarding the location of service points for travelers in 77 provinces. The service is available 24 hours daily. The eighth gift is to reduce the approval process for dialysis rights, whereby insured persons who are new patients of chronic renal failure will not need to pay a reserve. New chronic renal failure insured persons can submit their rights to hospitals that can be treated immediately via the electronic system without reservation. The ninth gift is a free assessment of light, noise, and heat levels that are harmful to operators to enhance the potential of “Industrial Hygiene in the Workplace.”
The Permanent Secretary of Labour also spoke about the trend of the labour market demand in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic has begun to ease from vaccinations. Lockdown measures have eased, and the country has opened up, leading to a gradual recovery in foreign demand from late 2021 until 2022. However, the outbreak of Omicron will need to be monitored. Employment trends in each occupation grew in the digital economy and automation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in the need for workers to develop new skills. Routine tasks will be replaced with automation. The employment trends in 2022 are divided into two groups. The first is workers in sectors at risk of infection, where there will be less demand for workers, such as face-to-face travel, accommodation, and recreation. The second group is workers in sectors corresponding to the COVID-19 situation, which may have greater demand, such as e-commerce, food delivery, and online-payments tools. For basic workers who do not need skills, the Ministry of Labour has opened for importing workers of the three nationalities (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia) according to the MoU under the COVID-19 situation. Employers ready to bear the costs of providing a place of quarantine can apply for bringing foreigners to work in the country from December 1, 2021, onwards to eliminate the problem of illegal workers in Thailand. It also prevents labour shortages and ensures employers and establishments have enough workers to drive businesses forward. As for the promotion of occupations for those who wish to work outside the system, there is information on alternative careers. The information also serves those who have more free time, are unemployed, or want to earn extra income to increase career opportunities, earn income, and have a job during the COVID-19 situation, or as inspiration to spark ideas. It may become a main occupation in the future. Interested people can search for career information and watch a video demonstration of a career available via www.doe.go.th/vgnew of the Employment Promotion Division, Department of Employment.
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Division of Public Relations
23 December 2021
