Thailand faces a shortage of about 500,000 foreign workers in its manufacturing and services sectors to support an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the government having lifted almost all virus-related travel and business restrictions
A combination of factors including civil strife in Myanmar and virus outbreaks in neighboring countries has led to fewer-than-expected people seeking work in Thailand.
Meanwhile, demand for staff is growing, especially in tourism-related sectors as well as labor-intensive industries like construction and fisheries, where Thais reject jobs because of low pay and difficult work conditions.
Photo: AFP
“This is a serious problem, as Thailand needs these foreign workers to help drive the economy,” said Poj Aramwattananont, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. “We will need more workers going forward, because we have lots of major infrastructure projects. We also have many services-sector jobs that need to be filled.”
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is on a recovery path after enduring its steepest contraction in more than two decades in 2020. More than 300,000 foreign workers were estimated to have left Thailand since the pandemic started, with only about 20,000 having returned this year under the bilateral contracts between Thailand and some peers in ASEAN.
About 2.5 million foreign workers are estimated to live in Thailand, Department of Employment Director-General Piroj Chotikasatien said.
The government recently changed rules to enable people with Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia nationalities who are working illegally in Thailand to register and gain a pathway into the formal system.
It also extended the expiring work permits for about 1.7 million people through 2025.
As many as 500 people from neighboring countries are crossing borders every day to seek work in Thailand.
That number would soon increase to 2,000 per day, the Department of Employment has said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$10.26 billion to finance the construction of its second fab in Kumamoto, Japan, and a second fab in Arizona, using advanced process technologies. The Department of Investment Review approved TSMC’s investment applications on the basis that Taiwan remains a major technology and manufacturing hub for the chipmaker, which makes its most advanced chips at home, the company operates its research-and-development center here and the majority of its capacity remains in Taiwan. The latest capital injections — US$5.26 billion for its Japanese venture Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing
DIVERSIFYING: Following customers’ demand to improve supply chain resilience, ASE is looking for sites in the US, Japan and Mexico, a company executive said ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packaging and testing service provider, yesterday said it plans to launch a new high-end chip testing fab in the US next month to better serve its key customers based in North America, particularly California-based artificial intelligence (AI) customers. The new US testing facility would be operated by the firm’s subsidiary ISE Labs Inc, it said. ASE’s major customers, and high-ranking US officials and representatives from American Institute in Taiwan are to attend the fab’s opening ceremony on July 12, it said. ISE Labs last year acquired a 5,942m2 facility in San
Local companies believe that nearly a third of all job opportunities will vanish in 10 years due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a survey released by online job bank yes123 on Tuesday. In the survey of 1,016 companies on the labor market’s third quarter outlook, the job bank focused in part on AI’s impact on workers and asked companies what percentage of jobs they felt would be lost to AI’s round-the-clock productivity and high-speed computing prowess. Respondents felt on average that 29.2 percent of job opportunities would be lost to AI over the next 10 years, but there
Taiwanese workers earned an average of NT$47,000 per month this year, but 40 percent are struggling financially and 18 percent plan to switch jobs within 12 months, two separate surveys showed yesterday. The amount equals a 5.4 percent increase from a year earlier to a decade high, 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said. The government is due to review the nation’s minimum wages. Employees at computer and consumer electronics manufacturers reported the highest average monthly wage of NT$60,000 a month, followed by semiconductor firms at NT$59,000, and vendors of shoe and textile products, along with software and Internet businesses at NT$55,000, 104 Job