In the first half of 2021, the job market survey, conducted by JobsDB, appears that Thailand’s unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2021 peaked at 1.96% for the first time in the last 5 years and since the pandemic began. The drop was caused by the reduction in the number of workers and the annual job-seeking season. Contrary to the downturn of the unemployment rate, overall job demand in Thailand both on digital job-seeking platforms and other online channels recovered with a 6.7% improvement compared with the second half of 2020. The survey also shows that the ratio of job vacancies to job applications is 1:80.
Based on the report, the most in-demand jobs remain: 1) Sales, Customer Service and Business Development, which represents 15.3% of overall market; 2) IT, 14.8%; and 3) Engineering, 10.0%. In business perspective, it is found that sectors with the most recovered cases considering numbers of employment demand are: 1) Electronics; 2) Insurance; and 3) Manufacturing. Meanwhile, the sectors negatively affected the worst are: 1) Travel and Tourism, 51% 2) Professional Services, 22%; and 3) Industrial Goods, 21%.
In light of the present situation, JobsDB is also preparing to organize another virtual career fair in September 2021 supporting Thailand’s labor market.
“JobsDB has analyzed data and done an evaluation of the current job market after the third and fourth wave of the pandemic. The analysis shows that Thailand’s unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2021 reached the highest number at 1.96% in the last 5 years and since the spread of covid-19. At the same time, employment demand in Thailand both on digital job-seeking platforms and other online channels recovered which resulted in an increase of 6.7% compared with the second half of 2020.” said Pornladda Dathratwibul, JobsDB Thailand Country Manager.
According to the job vacancies on the JobsDB website in the first half of 2021, it indicates that top in-demand categories for jobs remain: Sales, Customer Service and Business Development (15.3%); IT (14.8%); and Engineering (10.0%). The result also appears that the job categories with the highest recovery rate of employment are: Merchandising & Purchasing (43.0%); Transportation & Logistics (37.4%); and Insurance (36.4%)
In business perspective, industries with the highest number of job postings still are: IT (9.6%); Manufacturing (6.2%); and Retail & Wholesale (5.5%). Sectors with the highest growth rate of employment are: Electronics (52.6%); Insurance (48.0%); and Manufacturing (41.7%). In addition, it is also found that the competition ratio is down to 1 to 80 applications and the sum of job applications soared by 12%.
JobsDB has partnered with major consulting firms, Boston Consulting Group and The Network, to conduct a global survey entitled “Global Talent Survey”, with over 200,000 survey respondents from 20 different industries in 190 countries. The survey comprises of 3 reports featuring Report 1: “Where do people want to work?”; Report 2: “How do people want to work?”; and Report 3: “What jobs do people want to do?”. In late 2020, the data were collected to study thorough trends of job market emerged from the aftermath of the covid-19 outbreak.
Based on the survey, In Thailand, workers’ perspective on desired working mode has shifted and accustomed to working remotely, with 73% of workers in Thailand would choose a combination of remote and on-site working mode and only 7% would work completely on-site if given the choice. The pandemic altered not only thoughts on desired working mode but also job preferences. The most valued job preferences were: 1) Financial compensation; 2) Good relationship with colleagues; and 3) Appreciation for your work.
For interests in retraining and learning for improvement, 71% of Thai workers from the age of 21 – 40 were open to learn for improvement as well as retrain for a different job role. For instance, job categories which needed to learn new skills are: Manual Work & Manufacturing, Media & Information, and Sales. The most used learning resources for self-improvement include: 1) On-the-job training; 2) Self-study; and 3) Conference & seminar.
Additionally, the pandemic also has had positive impacts on the workplace which are: 1) Use of digital tools (0.80) out of 2 scored by JobsDB; 2) Team collaboration (0.46); and 3) Flexibility in when and where to work (0.44). Thailand scores exceeded the global scores reflecting positive impacts toward Thai workers. In the aspect of environment and diversity, 53% of young workers refused to work for employers that don’t match their beliefs in environmental responsibility and 63% out of all workers refused to work for employers that don’t support diversity and gender equality,” said Pornladda.
Recently, JobsDB, Asia’s leading job search platform, scheduled to organize another virtual career fair in coming September.
