Hiring in some industries down 75% due to Covid-19, but situation set to improve: report
The Covid-19 crisis has slashed the hiring rate of some Thai business sectors by up to 75 per cent, the online job application platform “JobThai” said recently.
In the first half of 2020, Thai businesses had combined openings for 303,776 positions. “February was the peak with 124,629 positions available, before the demand dropped 16.5 per cent during March-April, which is when the numbers and areas of Covid-19 infection in Thailand started to increase,” said the report.
JobThai also reported that sectors with the highest demand for new employees during Covid-19 are food and beverages, as people still need basic necessities despite the outbreak, while the sector that saw the biggest drop in employment of up to 75.7 per cent, were tourism-related due to lack of foreign tourists and lockdown measures in Thailand and other countries.
Sectors that were least affected by the outbreak were communications, with employment rate up by 38.7 per cent, followed by energy (up 0.3 per cent) and computer and IT (down 5.2 per cent).
JobThai predicts that the labour market from now on will gradually recover, as statistics after the lockdown period since July indicate that the demand for freelance employees, teachers and health professionals is rising compared to before and during the lockdown.