New graduates face uncertainty as the Thai economy is expected to shrink due to the impact of the coronavirus.
Tanit Sorat, the vice-chairman of Employers’ Confederation of Thai Trade and Industry, said that the majority of businesses have been forced to delay hiring and lay off some of the current workforce.
The ongoing economic crisis is likely to leave as many as 500,000 out of the 524,893 new graduates out of job, added Tanit.
The number of new graduates in 2020 has increased by 9.27 per cent from the figures seen in 2019, and 60 per cent of these new graduates will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree.
The economic crisis and lack of job opportunities is unlikely to be a short-term problem as Tanit said that it may take at least two to three years for the Thai economy to recover.
Earlier, The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) expected unemployment to surge to 8.4 million workers in the third quarter. While unemployment for the remainder of 2020, excluding new graduates, is expected to rise to 3.6 million.
The downturn will lead the economy to contract by as much as 18.5 per cent during the second quarter of 2020, according to the prediction made by Kasikorn Securities.
Challenging uncertainty
Since March, most universities have announced the use of online studying platforms for the rest of the semester.
Surachai Rukniwed, a promising arts graduate from Chulalongkorn University, told Thai Enquirer that the situation has pinned down all his plans after graduation.
“No celebration, no parties and no memorable trips with friends. It’s like all of my student life has ceased to exist,” said Surachai.
Not only are social activities being disrupted, but many important tests and certificates are also being postponed.
“[The French proficiency test] is very important to me. Without it, I can’t accomplish any of my aims to continue my master’s degree or get a job that requires the language certificate.”
Chalisa Wiriyathamrong, another arts graduate from Chulalongkorn University, said that “I have to look for other job opportunities because now, there is zero chance for me to achieve my goal of becoming a flight attendant… [I will] probably have to wait for a couple of years.”
The tourism and airline industries are the most affected sectors in the downturn.
“What is difficult is that I don’t know how long I will have to wait before I can continue pursuing my dream job,” Chalisa added. “I’m still looking for my first job in the middle of the virus chaos, which is disheartening.”
Respond to the surge
The situation has forced new graduates to adapt their skills and some may have to accept any job that comes their way.
Supot Imjit, an interior architecture graduate from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), told Thai Enquirer that he decided to freelance as a product packaging designer after graduation.
“As a student graduating from interior architecture, I think it’s more difficult to find a full-time job in this situation as companies won’t accept new workers at all,” Supot said.
Unfortunately for Supot, the real-estate sector is also set to face a major slowdown due to the slowing economy and lower purchasing power among the buyers.
Data from the various agencies already show that real-estate sales are on a sharp decline.
With slower sales in real-estate, the demand for interior decorators such as Supot is likely to be low as interior decoration budgets are expected to be cut.
Dr Sopon Pornchokchai, the president of Agency for Real Estate Affairs, told Thai Enquirer that “the estimated number of sales in real estate declined by 30-40 per cent and that affects real estate companies as they will not advertise any new job vacancies during the recession.”
However, he said that as the lockdown easing continues, it will help drive economic growth and this could be a good indicator for future jobs as businesses will start to hire more people as the situation improves.
“I expect to see an upturn in the real estate sector by 2021 because the coronavirus pandemic will last for a very long period of time but then the economy will go back to the normal,” Dr Sopon said.
