Businesses have decided to postpone a plan to lift their work-from-home policy due to the surge in Covid-19 infections linked with the Omicron variant, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
About 16% of new infections in Thailand were proven to be cases of the Omicron coronavirus, said the Public Health Ministry over the weekend, referring to the latest random sample.
The number of confirmed cases of the Omicron variant rose to 205 last Friday, up from 154 cases on Wednesday.
"We will see the effect of Omicron more clearly after the New Year festival, especially new infection clusters," said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, vice-chairman of the FTI.
The initial impact was already seen in many companies' work-from-home policy.
Earlier, they agreed to have employees return to workplaces, following the government's lockdown easing and the reopening of the country on Nov 1.
Some companies resumed 100% work at offices while others adopted a hybrid approach with employees told to work at home on some weekdays.
"Now businesses expect to extend their work-from-home policy for another 1-3 months," said Mr Kriengkrai.
Some companies are even considering revising their business investment plans in 2022 as it remains unclear whether the Omicron variant will deal a heavy blow to the economy.
The federation expects this highly infectious variant not to seriously affect the export sector, currently a major engine driving GDP.
It believes exports will continue to grow next year as exporters still receive new orders.
The Thai National Shippers' Council earlier predicted exports may grow by up to 8% next year, driven by an economic recovery in partner trading countries.