Young grads most likely to not find jobs

Young grads most likely to not find jobs

Up to 370,000 Thais were unemployed in September, with new graduates in business administration making up the largest share. However, this has not led to unpleasant prospects in the labour market.

The numbers are "not serious or worrying" when compared with the same period last year, deputy permanent secretary for labour Petcharat Sinuay commented on Friday.

In September 2017, the number of unemployed stood at 443,000, which is about 70,000 more than the number last month, he said.

When looking at this year's unemployment rate until September, Ms Petcharat said the months before the end of the year always see a slight decrease.

In early 2018, the unemployment rate swung between 1.2% and 1.3% before going down to 1% in May.

Making a wider comparison of the rates over the past three years, the unemployment rate this year is also better than in 2016 and 2017.

However, Ms Petcharat said, this does not mean the Labour Ministry is complacent about the ongoing situation. Officials are still working hard in their efforts to match unemployed workers with the right jobs, which includes setting up a "Job Ready Centre" to help them find work.

The majority of unemployed people fall between 20 and 24 years of age, implying they are newcomers to the job market.

According to labour officials, most job seekers have no experience. A fifth, or 20.2%, of the 178,000 new job seekers graduated with a BA degree, followed by 17.1% who completed an education major, and 11.7% specialising in social sciences.

They were asked by the Department of Employment to explain why they were not recruited. Their answers reflected difficulties both in their academic background and their own behaviour, Ms Petcharat observed.

Some 79.1% of them said they failed to secure jobs that matched their degree, while 14.6% complained they could not find the right job, according to the survey.

The findings shows that there are two groups of unemployed -- those who lack skills required by the job market and those who are choosy.

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