Ayutthaya plants seek 5,000 temp workers

The electronics sector has up to 5,000 job vacancies for semi-skilled workers in Ayutthaya province alone, the Federation of Thai Industries said Monday.

Ayutthaya is home to a well-known cluster of electronics manufacturers and global brands, such as US-based Western Digital (WD), Canon, and Minibea. About half of the province's total 240,000 industrial workers are employed in the electronics sector.

The industry was severely hit by the world recession with about 27,000 employees laid off since late 2008.

But export orders have picked up since the second quarter, forcing electronics companies to scramble to raise production and staff.

"The electronics sector is in need of about 4,000 to 5,000 [extra] employees at present after they began re-hiring in recent months," said Thotsaphon Wangsilabat, chairman of the federation's Ayutthaya Chapter.

"However, these workers are employed on temporary contracts, say three months, because the outlook remains uncertain," he said.

About 10% of the 1,800 factories in Ayutthaya are operated by electronics firms which heavily rely on exports, said Mr Thotsaphon.

"Automobiles is another major industry in Ayutthaya. But employment in the auto sector has not significantly increased because only domestic sales improved, not exports," he said.

According to the FTI, some 300,000 employees, or 10% of the country's industrial workforce, have lost their jobs because of the global slump.

About 70% of FTI members have maintained their staff levels based on the survey conducted in early March. Some 15% to 20% have cut their workforce, especially firms in the furniture and sugar industries.

But online surveys conducted by FTI from mid-May to yesterday showed that 5,500 positions are being sought by the FTI members, said deputy secretary-general Amnart Nantaharn.

"Obviously, companies are looking for semi-skilled workers, especially in the electronics sector," said Mr Amnart.

"This reflects improving prospects in the world economy and the impacts of the government's economic stimulus package to delay layoffs and boost domestic spending."

Sommat Khunset, another FTI deputy secretary-general, warned that tight liquidity could worsen the industrial sector's unemployment outlook, which is believed to have bottomed out.

"Not only commercial banks but also state-run institutions have delayed the process of extending credit lines to industrial operators. And loan interest rates from the SME Bank are not cheaper than other banks," he said.

About 130 FTI members have sought 4 billion baht in loans from the SME Bank but only three projects, worth 62 million baht in total, were approved.

"Customers have started delaying payments of the products, forcing companies to look for credit lines from banks as working capital to continue their production," Mr Sommat said. "If they cannot secure enough working capital, how can they maintain production or their staff?"