Top 10 Jobs Shunned By Thais

[webfact]

Top 10 Jobs Shunned By Thais

BANGKOK: -- Thais living in the central region of the country are said to be the most picky when it comes to seeking employment according to the latest survey by the Department of Employment. The least desirable jobs for Thais are manufacturing laborers, salesmen and chauffeurs.

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

The top 10 most undesirable industries were:

1. Manufacturing: 23,984 vacancies

2. Salesman: 5,522 vacancies

3. Driver: 3,459 vacancies

4. Administrative Staff: 2,501 vacancies

5. Maintenance Technician: 2,007 vacancies

6. Warehouse Officer: 1,717 vacancies

7. Electrician: 1,579 vacancies

8. Welders: 1,528 vacancies

9. Accountant: 1,410 vacancies

10. Machinery Repairman: 1,222 vacancies

The numbers were then categorized based on the locations of the job vacancies. It was found that the central region boasts the most number of unfilled positions. The east, north-east and north came in at second, third and fourth respectively. The South has the least number of unfilled vacancies.

The number of unemployment benefit requests submitted to the Social Security Office also showed that more Thais had resigned from their employment than they were let go.

The most common reasons for quitting were:

1. Want change

2. Family obligations

3. Lower compensation due to reduced work hours

4. Health reasons

-- Tan Network 2012-02-16

[DP25]

This is the top 10 jobs with the most vacancies, not the top 10 shunned. Most unemployed would be unqualified for most of those. The top 10 shunned would stuff that Burmese, Cambodian, and Lao immigrants do, fishing, house keeping, construction etc

[JurgenG]

In our village in Bangkok, we noticed that since the flooding the village is not as clean as before. We asked why to the management. They replied they are short of people for the maintenance and also gardeners ... They can't find anybody.

Same for the maids, almost impossible to find a Thai maid nowadays. There are some places where we are not allowed to walk the dogs, the warning signs are both in Thai and Burmese.

[jimbeam1]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

[AngryParent]

Many of those jobs Thailand refuses to give work permits to foreigners for!

What a system.

[metisdead]

A post has been removed for misuse of font sizes and colors. From the forum rules:

Posting in all capitals or in all bold, and using large or unusual fonts and colors is bad netiquette.

Use of bold font is bad forum netiquette which could also be considered as shouting. From forum netiquette:

1. Please do not post in all capital letters, bold, unusual fonts, sizes or colors. It can be difficult to read.

Use the default forum font when posting.

[DP25]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

Think that's the whole of Thailand. Most jobs and workers in Thailand aren't registered with the government so they wouldn't appear.

There was an article last year, only 9 million out of about 35 million workers in the country are registered with the government to pay income tax (most of these dont even pay because salary too low), so 171,000 of those 9 million would be about 2% unemployed. They wouldn't have info on the rest.

[janverbeem]

here're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011

Must be coincidence that the biggest part of those 171.000 unemployed lives near me.

[toenail]

This is my Western observation which can be wrong, can be argued... Many manufacturing jobs are not liked by Thais because the ones that will fullfill these low paying, long hour jobs will be from the rural areas...North and Isaan. It is a challenge for these workers to be in a manufacturing job since the work is nonstop, boring, in an enclosed building and no change. When you think of farming... you have a variety of jobs to do, you do get some time for sanook or time to relax, and you are your own boss. True, not as much money, but life isn't work...work...work...and one day off.

[cdnvic]

Removed one post insulting Thais and another commenting on moderation.

[Nisa]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

Probably all of Thailand which does have an incredibly low unemployment rate.

[red1green0]

If Thais are shunning work they obviously don't need to work at that time, so why would they?

[Nisa]

How the hell is it that they know 1,759 Electrician jobs are open? They say this is a survey but they give concrete numbers and no explanation of margin of error. Also could it be possible there is simply a shortage of electricians given the need for them due to the recent flooding?

It would have been nice if they simply provided these figures along with when they were from and not added the idiotic commentary.

[Pib]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

Probably all of Thailand which does have an incredibly low unemployment rate.

Yeap, many, many Thais have jobs selling vegetables at the market or bowls of noodles along the soi. Rather than wasting their time going to the labor/unemployment office they work for very low wage jobs, usually self-employed low wage jobs. Others just don't aggressively look for jobs nor go to the labor/unemployment office so they are not counted as unemployed. But selling vegetables and noodles beats no job at all and that's how Thailand ends up with a very low unemployment rate. You do what you got to do to put food on the table.

[samran]

Many of those jobs Thailand refuses to give work permits to foreigners for!

What a system.

They hand them out easily to Burmese, Lao and Cambodians.

Bloody great system.

[Nisa]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

Probably all of Thailand which does have an incredibly low unemployment rate.

Yeap, many, many Thais have jobs selling vegetables at the market or bowls of noodles along the soi. Rather than wasting their time going to the labor/unemployment office they work for very low wage jobs, usually self-employed low wage jobs. Others just don't aggressively look for jobs nor go to the labor/unemployment office so they are not counted as unemployed. But selling vegetables and noodles beats no job at all and that's how Thailand ends up with a very low unemployment rate. You do what you got to do to put food on the table.

Yup, you do what you got to do to put food on the table, just like anywhere else.

Yup, many people are not counted as unemployed who are, just like most anywhere else.

And by the way, some of those people selling veggies and noodles from their carts on the street are making a lot more than the jobs listed in the OP.

But no doubt Thais in general work much longer hours for considerably lower pay than folks in the west.

Edited February 16, 2012 by Nisa

[DP25]

Yeap, many, many Thais have jobs selling vegetables at the market or bowls of noodles along the soi. Rather than wasting their time going to the labor/unemployment office they work for very low wage jobs, usually self-employed low wage jobs. Others just don't aggressively look for jobs nor go to the labor/unemployment office so they are not counted as unemployed. But selling vegetables and noodles beats no job at all and that's how Thailand ends up with a very low unemployment rate. You do what you got to do to put food on the table.

These grey market jobs aren't necessarily low paid. A noodle stall can bring in decent money. All kinds of small businesses in Thailand aren't recorded in statistics but they do ok. Someone with a successful noodle stall is going to be making more money than a civil servant that is registered with the government.

[moe666]

No their all waiting for Big Ts magic hand to make them all rich in 6 months and still counting

[Pib]

No doubt some of the vegetable and noodle vendors are doing very well, but many are just getting by---there are so many folks doing this type of job the price competition is pretty tough.

[Unkomoncents]

This is my Western observation which can be wrong, can be argued... Many manufacturing jobs are not liked by Thais because the ones that will fullfill these low paying, long hour jobs will be from the rural areas...North and Isaan. It is a challenge for these workers to be in a manufacturing job since the work is nonstop, boring, in an enclosed building and no change. When you think of farming... you have a variety of jobs to do, you do get some time for sanook or time to relax, and you are your own boss. True, not as much money, but life isn't work...work...work...and one day off.

I think you're right. I spoke to a Taiwanese factory owner who told me that it's difficult to find engineers for his factory because Thais want the glamour of a hotel job. You walk around and talk all day long, so it's completely appealing to your average Thai (generalizing, obviously); plus, you get a nice looking uniform plus 5-star status (or so they think). The engineering job pays less money (officially), but more (unofficially, because other staff don't like it when more qualified employees earn more) in the end. The hotel job is completely unstable in an incredibly competitive and unstable market. But again, it's all about face. The Taiwanese gentleman explained that he, at one point, had to hire a Malaysian national to work on his line (and pay him more, which says A LOT as well, by the way).

[janverbeem]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

Probably all of Thailand which does have an incredibly low unemployment rate.

Not so difficult to have a low unemployment rate if you need 5 people to do a job 1 person fulfill in the western world.

[Nisa]

The Department of Employment conducted a survey unemployed individuals in Thailand. There're approximately 171,000 people who are unemployed as of December, 2011. At the same time, there are as many as 75,000 employment vacancies in various business sectors that have been shunned by the Thais without jobs.

171,000 unemployed? 75,000 job vacancies?

Are these figures supposed to be for the whole of Thailand, or just one small district, of Bangkok?

jb1

Probably all of Thailand which does have an incredibly low unemployment rate.

Not so difficult to have a low unemployment rate if you need 5 people to do a job 1 person fulfill in the western world.

??? your point being besides appearing to try to find a cloud in a silver lining

[RedNIvar]

Half of the so called "shunned jobs" require skilled workers. Could it be that there are vacancies in those positions because there is a lack of qualified candidates? Just thinking out loud. Thailand might want to look at improving the quality of education and getting the right skills training.

The other "undesirable jobs" like in manufacturing workers, sales staff, drivers, admin staff, warehouse workers, actually require you to work and it's mostly long hours. I know most multinational companies actually pay good overtime and give additional allowances for these jobs. Local Thai companies do not. Could the current vacancies listed above be from Thai companies that make a habit of exploiting their workers.

[KKvampire]

Many of those jobs Thailand refuses to give work permits to foreigners for!

What a system.

The attitude is if a Thai doesnt want the job nobody can have it. One good way of continuing to screw the economy

[RedNIvar]

In my opinion the Top Ten most undesirable jobs in Thailand would be,

1. Thai "Massage Parlor" Cleaner

2. Roadkill removal officer

3. Construction worker

4. Toll booth worker

5. Nana Plaza/Kowboy/Patpong toilet cleaner

6. Razor blade, ping pong ball, fish, etc swallower and projectile launcher

7. Septic Tank Maintenance.

8. Crocodile farm limb donor.

9. Garbage collector

10. Political canvasser.

[YellowFeverCAD]

??? your point being besides appearing to try to find a cloud in a silver lining

I am always surprised when people talk about how hard the Thai's work compared to anyone else. Do these people own businesses in Thailand? I own a couple of places in the BKK area and I can say without a doubt the average Thai worker is the laziest I have ever employed in any country I have employed people. They spend way too much business time on their personal phone calls, need to eat every 45 minutes and are incapable it seems of going to the washroom or do virtually anything without doing it in a committee. Sorry if that ruffles anyone's feathers but it is my direct personal experience..

Plus as the person said that you replied to with the above quote, Having a low employment rate is really moot when you consider part of the reason Thai's are so under paid is that they are over employed..

Perfect example, a few nights ago my wife son and I were shopping at Tops, on the way out the door there is a Dunkin Donuts there and my son likes that dam_n little donut holes or whatever they are called here. There were THREE staff members working in this little tiny kiosk. Yet the kiosk was self serve. So we picked up a tray, put the paper lining on it, picked up the tongs and picked up two of those little donuts for my son and one each for my wife and I. Then we walked it to the cashier.

Girl one took the tray from us and removed the tongs and put them back on the rack. She passed the tray to girl two, who put our donuts in a box, she then slide the box across the counter to girl three who looked in the box and rang up our total of under 100 baht. I tried to hand the note to girl three, but girl one was closer so she grabbed it and passed it to girl two who passed it to girl three, the change of course went in the exact reverse fashion. Of course that was after girl three counted ot the 3 twenty baht notes for change at least five times, just making sure she got it right I am sure.

Then girl three passed my box to girl two, who put it in a bag and she then passed it to girl one who handed it to us...

A couple of observations, it was a long long proces to grab four donuts.....

My wife commented that each of those girls likely made in the 5k to 6500 baht a month range...

Imagine if the company there hired ONE girl who could have easily done the job required at this little kiosk for 15k, the company would save money on salaries, would likely have a more motivated employee for the greater income (relative to Thai wages) and the poor customer would not have to sit through all that nonsense to get a simple order.

The downside of course is that we now have two unemployed spaceholders....

There in lies one of the biggest issues in Thailand... you see it in every store anywhere I've ever been, totally over staffed beyond belief with a staff that is so poorly paid they don't really give a crap about doing any work...

But the business owners (like I do) feel the need to hire so much extra staff as the Thai employees as a general rule simply don't care about their jobs that much as they pay so little....

Hmmmmm seems like some catch 22 stuff going on there...

Would love to see how to solve that one.. but like so many other things in Thailand that's the way they do it, I'm a farang I don't understand Thai way... to that all I can say is Thank goodness...

[blazes]

A post has been removed for misuse of font sizes and colors. From the forum rules:

Posting in all capitals or in all bold, and using large or unusual fonts and colors is bad netiquette.

Use of bold font is bad forum netiquette which could also be considered as shouting. From forum netiquette:

1. Please do not post in all capital letters, bold, unusual fonts, sizes or colors. It can be difficult to read.

Use the default forum font when posting.

There are some people on this forum who might be misled by your statement. It is not bad form to use bold for emphasis on the occasional word, as in this sentence. It might be appropriate to point out that using bold or capitals in whole sentences is bad form, but occasional bold as a means of emphasis is accepted worldwide.

Edited February 17, 2012 by blazes

[HUAHIN62]

I heard a rumor that Thailand will be relaxing laws regarding work permits next year. Apparently part of a process to increase foreign investment and trade. Will have to wait and see.

[TempleTiger]

A post has been removed for misuse of font sizes and colors. From the forum rules:

Posting in all capitals or in all bold, and using large or unusual fonts and colors is bad netiquette.

Use of bold font is bad forum netiquette which could also be considered as shouting. From forum netiquette:

1. Please do not post in all capital letters, bold, unusual fonts, sizes or colors. It can be difficult to read.

Use the default forum font when posting.

There are some people on this forum who might be misled by your statement. It is not bad form to use bold for emphasis on the occasional word, as in this sentence. It might be appropriate to point out that using bold or capitals in whole sentences is bad form, but occasional bold as a means of emphasis is accepted worldwide.

It might also be valid to point out that it is etiquette not NETIQUETTE.

[bobl]

It might also be valid to point out that it is etiquette not NETIQUETTE.

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netiquette

It may not have found its way into the Oxford English dictionary yet (I haven't checked), but I'm afraid it wouldn't be a valid point...