Database integration announced

The Labour Ministry has moved to integrate its workers' database with the Education Ministry's student database, in an effort to better meet the market's labour demands.

During a visit to Pathumthani Vocational Education College on Monday, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said the move followed a memorandum of understanding that was signed on Jan 19 last year, amid the growing labour crunch which followed the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the MoU, both ministries agreed to integrate their database in order to make it easier to provide jobs to recent graduates and encourage prospective workers to update their skills to better meet the demands of the market.

The cooperation is expected to benefit the industrial, tourism and hospitality sectors in particular, as these sectors' recovery hinges on the availability of workers.

Under the current arrangement, the permanent secretary for labour's office will be able to access the Education Ministry's database, enabling them to direct graduates to fill up vacant positions posted by various companies.

As of now, the office can view the list of students in Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya and Bangkok.

Information from the database will be used by the Employment Department to facilitate job searches via the Thai Mee Ngan Tham ("Thais Have Jobs") platform.

Meanwhile, the Skills Development Department will use the information to organise workshops to equip up to 593,329 students with professional skills which are in high demand in the labour market.

The Labour Ministry has also set up skills assessment centres at 264 schools nationwide and waived the 12,000-baht certification fee for individuals seeking to apply for occupations which pose a safety hazard to the public.

So far, more than 250,000 students have been tested at the centres.