Jobless with degrees rises again to 220,000

[webfact]

Jobless with degrees rises again to 220,000

By The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- The unemployment rate among new graduates spiked in the second quarter of this year despite the acceleration of Thailand’s economic growth.

 

The unemployment rate slightly increased to 1.2 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent in the same period last year, with a total of 470,000 unemployed workers, said Porametee Vimolsiri, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board on Monday.

 

“The unemployment rate spiked at 24.1 per cent among those who have never been employed before, as it was the graduation season and there was large influx of new graduates entering the labour market,” said Porametee.

 

It is estimated that some 39 per cent of unemployed people had university degrees, according to the NESDB.

 

Porametee said that it is normal for this group to experience a high rate of unemployment in the second and third quarters each year. The rate declines as the fourth quarter approaches.

 

NESDB figures, however, reveal that unemployment has been trending up among this group between 2013 and 2016. In 2013, some 140,000 new graduates were unemployed. It increased to 180,000 in 2016 and again to 220,000 in the first half of this year.

 

The main factors behind the trend include a mismatch between qualifications of graduates and what the market demand of them, and the overall lack of private investment that would increase economic growth, according to Porametee.

 

Thai economy’s growth in the second quarter reached 3.7 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent in the first quarter.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30325727

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-04

[ChrisY1]

Surprising??.....not really when the tertiary system in Thailand continues to turn out people with diplomas, but fails with the basics for the pocketing of the course fee.

This is about the income of these useless institutions, many of which (as the article admits) are as mentioned, useless!

Why are there no controls or proper assessments of these places.....how does this happen?

In reality, it's all about keeping the masses dumbed down and happy!

Edited September 4, 2017 by ChrisY1

[manhood]

The unemployment rate slightly increased to 1.2 per cent, up from 1.1

It's just to laugh about the unemployment rate here in Thailand they officilly anounce!

A shameless fairy tale.....the unemplyoment rate ist much much higher

and if you fire all the unproductive employees they have "working" everywhere and doing nothing beside misstreating their mobile phone the rate would raise up to more then 50%..

But well, maybe better keep them in a job as having them on the streets all....the consumers pays anyway for it!

[khunpa]

19 minutes ago, manhood said:

The unemployment rate slightly increased to 1.2 per cent, up from 1.1

It's just to laugh about the unemployment rate here in Thailand they officilly anounce!

A shameless fairy tale.....the unemplyoment rate ist much much higher

and if you fire all the unproductive employees they have "working" everywhere and doing nothing beside misstreating their mobile phone the rate would raise up to more then 50%..

But well, maybe better keep them in a job as having them on the streets all....the consumers pays anyway for it!

Come on... Dont be like that :-)

 

Last time I was at HomePro and alone with the 250 employees there, I only saw about 5 playing with their phones... ;-) The rest looked super busy, waiting for other customers than me to show up. Hoping that someone would come and look at the one product, they were put in charge of selling.

Edited September 4, 2017 by khunpa

[Ceruhe]

29 minutes ago, khunpa said:

Last time I was at HomePro and alone with the 250 employees there,

But do you also get the feeling to suddenly turn around and check if we are actually playing red light, green light though?

[RoyDee]

5 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Surprising??.....not really when the tertiary system in Thailand continues to turn out people with diplomas, but fails with the basics for the pocketing of the course fee.

This is about the income of these useless institutions, many of which (as the article admits) are as mentioned, useless!

Why are there no controls or proper assessments of these places.....how does this happen?

In reality, it's all about keeping the masses dumbed down and happy!

Only now they are not happy. but no voice to say so. TIT 4.00.

[wakeupplease]

What do you call the ones who have never worked but send the wife out instead?

[Jonah Tenner]

51 minutes ago, wakeupplease said:

What do you call the ones who have never worked but send the wife out instead?

Pimps?

[Thongkorn]

Are the degrees got off line  or are they real ones.

[Foozool]

Going back to old time ?!! ?

 

[wakeupplease]

2 hours ago, Jonah Tenner said:

Pimps?

Status not what we all know occupation

 

Me I call my brother in law a lazy good for nothing druggie, he is so lazy he will not go and see the local office and register as unemployed sorry I meant unemployable.

[webfact]

Graduates hit by spike in jobless rate

By WICHIT CHAITRONG 
THE NATION

 

Porametee Vimolsiri, the secretary general of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

 

BANGKOK: -- THE jobless rate among new graduates spiked in the second quarter of this year even as economic growth picked up speed, highlighting a challenge for policymakers as employers cry out for the multi-skilled workers needed to underpin a technology-driven transition in the economy.

 

Overall, the unemployment rate edged up to 1.2 per cent up from 1.1 per cent in the same period last year, with 470,000 people out of work, the secretary general of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), Porametee Vimolsiri, said yesterday.

 

The total labour productivity rate increased 3.3 per cent but real wages increased only 0.1 per cent.

 

 “The unemployment rate spiked 24.1 per cent among those who have never been employed before as it was the graduation season and a large influx of new graduates entered the labour market,” said Porametee.

 

Of the newcomers seeking entry to the job market, some 39 per cent of them held university degrees, the NESDB said.

 

Porametee said the increase in the unemployment rate for this bracket of job-seekers followed a pattern, with the second and quarters showing a rise in unemployment before their prospects improve as the fourth quarter approaches.

 

However, the NESDB noted that the unemployment rate for this group had been on an upward trend since 2013. The ranks of unemployed in this group stood at 140,000 in 2013, before rising to 180,000 in 2016, and reaching a high of 220,000 in the first half of this year.

 

The main factors behind the stubbornly high unemployment rates for young graduates were a mismatch between their qualifications and the needs of employers and that the labour market was still waiting for a full recovery in private investment, Porametee said.

 

The economy grew at surprisingly fast clip of 3.7 per cent in the second quarter, accelerating from a growth rate of 3.3 per cent in the first quarter.

 

The NESDB identified three main issues for the labour market that need close attention over the next six months.

 

Employment and income in the agricultural sector may be adversely affected by weakening farm product prices and the impact of the recent floods, it noted. Prices declined by an average of 4.2 per cent in May-June and will fall further in the third and fourth quarters of this year, amid falls in the prices of commodities such as rubber, maize and sugarcane.

 

However, price of rice is expected to rise, in line with a rise in global prices for the grain. While tropical storms that hit in August and are forecast for this month may damage some rice production, it said.

 

 Secondly, the NESDB said there is an urgent need to accelerate the skills development of Thai workers to ensure they have the competency required by the labour market and to improve labour productivity. A positive sign for new employment was an expansion in private investment expansion of 3.2 per cent in the second quarter after contractions in the previous three quarters. 

 

“However, worker utilisation and the employment of advanced technologies in companies' production and services may result in changes in the forms and needs of employment, such as shorter working contracts and rising demand for workers with multi-skills,” the NESDB said.

 

The solution may be a dual education system that combines apprenticeships in a company and education at a vocational school in one course.

 

Thirdly, monitoring is required on the effectiveness of enforcement of the amended labour protection law and related regulations that imposes severe punishment on those found employing child labour as part of a broader effort to tackle human trafficking. Moreover, the new law also requires employers to have a set of written of rules and regulations regarding jobs and employment on announcement boards located in workplaces.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30325785

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-05

[dbrenn]

Same in the UK - a lot of people take degrees in wishy-washy liberal subjects, learning skills which are useless in the real world. Then they wonder why they can't get a job or have to work zero hour contracts in McDonalds.

[Odysseus123]

11 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Surprising??.....not really when the tertiary system in Thailand continues to turn out people with diplomas, but fails with the basics for the pocketing of the course fee.

This is about the income of these useless institutions, many of which (as the article admits) are as mentioned, useless!

Why are there no controls or proper assessments of these places.....how does this happen?

In reality, it's all about keeping the masses dumbed down and happy!

Just the usual-churning out farcebook addicts who are attending for social status only and not for any meaningful qualifications which might lead to any form of professional employment.Most of the students I knew had little motivation and absolutely no vision of the future at all other than being online heroes or pretties.

[Lunchbob]

It would be very interesting to know, sarcasm aside, what skills they think are needed or mismatched.

[dbrenn]

29 minutes ago, Lunchbob said:

It would be very interesting to know, sarcasm aside, what skills they think are needed or mismatched.

The real world demands non degree trades (too many people are getting degrees), the sciences, engineering, medicine and the like. Rather than media studies, humanities, liberal arts, etc.

[Khun Paul]

The major problem apart from the useless degrees, is that those with so-called University education think that they are owed a job and they have zero work ethics, like time keeping or loyalty.it is the same in many countries but I fear more so here.

Education is NOT always the key to a successful employed work force it is attitude and the willingness to actually work.

[kaorop]

15 minutes ago, Khun Paul said:

The major problem apart from the useless degrees, is that those with so-called University education think that they are owed a job and they have zero work ethics, like time keeping or loyalty.it is the same in many countries but I fear more so here.

Education is NOT always the key to a successful employed work force it is attitude and the willingness to actually work.

Agreed even in Oz back when I was looking at career paths, a lot the people that didnt want to work went to uni.

Others went into trades or unskilled labor, which obviously required working.

Yes the the dogmatic "need a degree" is just plain stupid and therefore quite ironic, imo..

[RichardColeman]

Probably as this new generation don't want to use their degree on motorbike taxi's, 7/11's and working for 300 baht a day in a dead end job ! That said, there should be plenty of work out there cleaning the rice barns out !

[Narratio]

2 hours ago, Lunchbob said:

It would be very interesting to know, sarcasm aside, what skills they think are needed or mismatched.

Nope, sorry but sarcasm in great steaming lumps is definitely required whenever a government spokesman lays out stuff like this. It's almost a moral imperative.    

 

 

[DLang]

It's obviously their own fault for not having the correct father, surname, or alumni. 

[Ossy]

If you ran a business – selling second-hand cars, let’s say – and you needed another effective salesman/woman, where would you look first; at the graduate pool or the non-graduate pool? Similarly, who would you expect to put in the best day’s shift; a graduate or a non-graduate?

 

Perhaps I’m on my own, here and, for some reason, guilty of casting an over-cynical view of Thai education, from grass roots, where ‘good’ or ‘bad’ attitudes are born, upwards. The sad truth is that current Thai education standards are at the bottom end of the table for so-called 'developed' nations. There appears to be little accountability for maintaining acceptable standards. Inspections that are quite literally, feared, even by high-performing teachers and lecturers in most other countries, are reduced, in Thailand – as I’ve been told by a teacher of 30 years – to an opportunity to talk shop, eat and compare FB walls. Not good.

 

Returning to the issue of graduate employment/unemployment; give me a lively and motivated boy or girl, who’s proved him/herself for the past few years, since secondary school . . . ANYTIME. I'd expect to be showing the door to the graduates and to see them returning to their i-phone game as they get back in Mum's car.

[JAG]

15 minutes ago, DLang said:

It's obviously their own fault for not having the correct father, surname, or alumni. 

More than a grain of truth...

[smileydude]

Germany figured this out decades ago with their high proportion of 2 year vocational graduates with specific skills like welding, machine tooling, etc and low number of liberal arts and PhD graduates who are mostly required in a limited number for academic research.

 

The Thai education system separates kids in the early secondary years into science and arts.  The smarter kids go to science and the lesser to arts.  The science kids aspire to become doctors, dentist's, engineers and accountants while the art kids go for Law, political science, communications etc.  Thing is the system pigeonholes what they should pursue instead of allowing them to find out what they are really good and what has the best prospects in the job market.

 

As a interviewer I once asked a newly graduated doctor why he wanted to pursue cardiology.  He said he found it challenging and prestigious blah blah blah.  I would have loved it if he said "The subject matter comes naturally to me and I feel the work ethos fits my character."

[Lupatria]

Here is the solution: 'I lack knowledge, expertise, and language skills please give me a uniform'.

[Esso49]

How can that be when the government reports a national unemployment rate of only 0.1% ?.     Maybe the persons compiling the government statistics where one of the 100s of thousands who "bought" their degrees or else gave their tutors other inducements, so hence Maths is not their strong point !!!

[Genmai]

As a business owner I can attest to the utter uselessness and incompetence of these so-called “graduates” who demand a higher wage and cushier conditions just because they have a piece of paper. Here are some shenanigans I can remember off the top of my head that occurred whilst having to deal with various Thai “graduates” employed at our company. These were people who spent 4 years and significant amounts of money to become specialized educated enlightened individuals - the supposed intellectual backbone of their nation.

 

Sent out to buy document folder – come back empty handed because cannot choose color.

 

Sent out to buy box of tissues at 7/11 for the office – cannot go alone, has to take colleague.

 

Comes to work 1 hour late with colleague. Says nothing. When asked – “Oh, we were at the temple” with incredulous look.

 

Comes to work 1 hour late with colleague. Giggling hysterically – “Mister, my friend has diarrhea, haha”

 

Go into work room. Giggling hysterically again – “Mister, my friend has period. Do you have sanitary pad?”

 

Go into work room. Employees are sleeping with their heads on the table. Wake up and moan together– “Why is life so hard?”

 

Go into work room. Instead of working is listening to Youtube. Looks up – “Mister, do you believe in ghosts?”

 

Intern sent from college for work placement at our company. Has her task explained to her. An hour into her work on the first day asks – “Mister, how can I move to the US and be a hair dresser?”

 

Intern sent from college for work placement at our company. After a month of working with us asks – “Mister, what is the minimum wage in your country?” – Answer – *gives incredulous look* “Wooow! That’s great! You should go back there!”

 

After 6 months employee gets scolded for inability to make very basic decisions by herself and told to have more initiative. Later that day notice her looking up at trees in the garden and picking things up off the ground. Next day go into work room – she is busy decorating company structure board with twigs and yarns.

 

Fresh graduate comes for interview - cannot make eye contact or speak clearly. CV is printed on pink paper with cartoons of Disney characters and stickers of Winnie the Pooh.

 

Fresh graduate comes for interview. Lists “studied English” in educational history. “Can you speak English?” - “No”. “Then why do you put it in the list?” - *smiles and giggles*

 

Put open position notice on local employment FB group. Less than one third of people interested in the position actually bother to call. Another third simply comments on the listing with the word “Interested”. Another third expresses their interest by simply commenting on the listing with one full stop – “.” Some comment with two full stops – “..”.

 

Of the potential candidates that show up for interview only half bother to leave their phone number on the form. Almost all are college graduates.

 

 

At this point we have fired more "graduates" than we can count and our team is made up of uneducated hard-working relatively sensible middle-aged women. Some never finished high school. The only person under 30 is a girl who has hill-tribe ancestry and used to work in construction sites. Nobody has a degree. In fact our hiring policy now is that we prefer people without one. We have had the pleasure of employing several college graduates who were excellent. Unfortunately since Thailand is a largely dysfunctional society these people have had to quit as they became the collateral damage of a predominantly infantile and reckless culture of impulsivity and irresponsibility. A jackass rammed them off the road, a mother took off with her new boyfriend leaving them to take care of their siblings, a family member mismanaged money and needed saving, etc etc.

 

When I first came here the nuances of Thai characteristics for me used to be novel, whimsical and somewhat comical. But now that I have a company and have been here for several years they are just everyday impediments that are utterly incompatible with the business environment of the 21^st century. No amount of college degrees will ever overwrite the cultural inheritance of Thai people.

 

Next stop – Vietnam.

[timendres]

9 hours ago, Lunchbob said:

It would be very interesting to know, sarcasm aside, what skills they think are needed or mismatched.

I can say that there is a serious lack of skilled employees in the IT sector. Companies are scrambling to find programmers and others with the technology skills needed for the rapid expansion of online services here in Thailand.

[Borzandy]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

THE jobless rate among new graduates spiked

I'm soooooo surprise, all the Thai universities are soooooooo competent

[Bangkokazy]

The education of the children is a great object for parents to have something to talk to other parents about.
Education is like a whore who has to work harder the longer he / she is in the same job

 

That's the world today