Employers seek more foreign workers

[reader]

From Khaosod English

 

BANGKOK — Business owners say they are unable to find Thai employees to staff service jobs and are urging the government to relax its restrictions on foreign employees.

 

The Group of Entrepreneurs with Foreign Workers said they would take an online petition to the labor ministry this month ask that Laotian, Burmese and Cambodian workers be allowed to work legally in two of the 39 occupations forbidden to foreigners.

 

“The problem is we can’t find any Thais who want to do these jobs,” the group’s Piphooake Sakullim said. “It’s not like we’re leaving behind Thais. But when you put up a sign asking for an extra worker for six months, and no one applies, how is your business supposed to go on?”

 

“I always give Thais the chance for a job first, but they’re really hard to find. They leave after a little bit. Therefore, I want to give hardworking aliens a chance for an occupation,” reads one of several dozens signs shown.

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2018/06/13/let-us-hire-foreigners-short-staffed-shop-owners-demand/

 

Link to list of occupations that foreigners are not permitted to perform:

http://www.mol.go.th/en/content/page/6347

[Guest abang1961]

I believe it is a global trend for transmigration of workers. 

There is always this nudging need to find greener pasture elsewhere.

There are many pull factors - better job prospects, better pay, better living conditions, acceptance of different lifestyle etc.

 

Here in Singapore, we face a shortage of manual laborers and lowly skilled workers as education standards gone up and most are unwilling to do the more mundane jobs - sales and service are the worst hit sectors.  

 

**

Back in the 80s and 90s, many Thais came to work in construction industry. 

It was a gay man's haven to have so many choices then (of course I wasn't queuing up for them)

However, they all left and now we only have those from China and Indian Sub-continent. 

[Guest]

I see a couple of sides to this. 

 

Any company that's prepared to pay more than the going rate can poach workers from other companies, so salary increases should be part of the supply & demand mechanism.   

Of course, in some professions, the companies moan & get an influx of workers, which is tough on domestic workers.   In other professions, the professional bodies somehow manage to restrict the supply, so their own members remain well paid.   That's a general assessment, not just aimed at Thailand.  

I would ask, is there really a shortage of workers, or is it a shortage who are prepared to work for the pittance the specific employers expect to pay in a country ?

 

Thailand has a low birth rate & expects population decline.   Just over the border is Cambodia, with a very high birth rate & people who follow the same religion. Therefore, they might integrate perfectly into Thai society within a generation, if given the opportunity.   I think there is a very good argument for managed immigration from Cambodia.

[reader]

From Khaosod English

 

11 ‘Forbidden’ Careers Opened to Foreigners

 

BANGKOK — Nearly a dozen previously off-limits jobs were opened to foreign nationals Thursday, while a request retail service jobs be included was denied.

 

A day after shop owners demanded the Labor Ministry decriminalize the hiring of foreign staff, it announced the rules would be relaxed to allow expats to do jobs including masonry, carpentry and shoemaking.

 

In July, all foreigners will be able to work eight areas including unskilled agricultural or fisheries jobs; masonry and carpentry. They can also make bedding, knives, shoes, hats, dresses, pottery and ceramics, according to Labor Minister Adul Saengsingkaew. However, they may not own such businesses and must comply with other conditions. Foreigners can work as laborers without condition.

 

Citizens from all ASEAN member states will also be allowed to provide certain accounting and civil engineering services and construction-related architectural work that does not require specialized expertise.

 

The list of jobs did not include retail as Thai employers had called for Wednesday. But the top ministry official suggested there may be a loophole by which they could pass as laborers: Don’t let them touch any money.

 

“They cannot handle money or give customers change,” Adul said Thursday. “They can just aid customers’ convenience by fetching items and arranging items.”

 

Vendors who yesterday protested at the ministry to call for Burmese, Cambodian and Laotians to be able to work in retail were left puzzled by his comments.

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2018/06/21/11-forbidden-careers-opened-to-foreigners/

[Guest]

From a personal perspective, what matters is allowing them to work in gogo bars on the same terms as Thais.

Then all the sweet Khmer lads do not have to run off every time there is a possible police raid.

[spoon]

This can be double edged sword too. More foreign workers will come to thailand to work those jobs, thus maybe some might even be tempted to work as MB on the sides as well. On the other hand, some foreign MB currently in thai might find the job they wanted so they might not have to be MB anymore or as much.

[PeterRS]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I thought that one of the objects of ASEAN or APEC was the introduction of mobility of labour within the region.

[Guest abang1961]

I don't go for boys from South East Asia but I recommend this job for our large pools of older farangs.

 

We certainly have lots of volunteers, we, doing the job of body inspectors pro bono ..We only need to be there on every Monday and Thursday for less than 2 hours max in the late morning..It gives us the opportunity to examine the goods/boys before they are approved with work permits.

 

After the inspection, we can secretly bring the boys for our 1 on 1 selection. Buy them a meal...The rest is up to your illicit imagination.

[Guest]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I thought that one of the objects of ASEAN or APEC was the introduction of mobility of labour within the region.

 

Where there are large income disparities, mobility of labour can have unintended consequences.   I would say ASEAN is not ready for full labour mobility.

 

There are massive income disparities between Singapore & Cambodia for example.   If a free for all were introduced in ASEAN, Singapore would be swamped with immigrants & the population would quickly be voting for change.

 

We have seen this in the EU.  The old EU has some kind of approximate balance in labour movements, but once labour mobility is extended to eastern Europe, there are disparities in income.  As English is the language everyone learns at school, the UK has seen large inflows.   Mostly good hard working people, but the sheer volume of them was one of the contributors to the brexit vote.

 

Cambodia has much lower incomes than any EU country.  Singapore is wealthier than most EU countries (thanks to enlightened free enterprise, hard work, low corruption & low taxes).   

 

Managed immigration from somewhere like Cambodia to Thailand should be just fine.   Free movement would just be the end of ASEAN.

[spoon]

A bit of related news, malaysia is moving in a different direction. Our Human Resources minister just announce a ban on hiring of foreigns cooks to work in restaurants to ensure "authenticity" of malaysia cuisins.

[DivineMadman]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I thought that one of the objects of ASEAN or APEC was the introduction of mobility of labour within the region.

I believe that currently ASEAN is only committed to improving free mobility of skilled labor.

[witty]

Some of the boys in the niche industry are highly skilled and talented, going by the trip reports appearing time and again.

[vinapu]

Some of the boys in the niche industry are highly skilled and talented, going by the trip reports appearing time and again.

can't agree more being great fan of them , particularly Lao labour

[Guest]

I believe that currently ASEAN is only committed to improving free mobility of skilled labor.

That's about as far as they can take it.  Restricting it to "skilled" and "improving mobility" will avoid 10 million people suddenly truing to get into Singapore.

However, clearly there is also some demand for unskilled workers to do the hard jobs the locals don't want to do.  

[spoon]

That's about as far as they can take it. Restricting it to "skilled" and "improving mobility" will avoid 10 million people suddenly truing to get into Singapore.

However, clearly there is also some demand for unskilled workers to do the hard jobs the locals don't want to do.

Demand for unskilled workers has always been there in developing countries, and when foreign labour is cheaper to hire, many capitalists developer prefer that, hence the ever increasing foreign labour in those countries. Saying local didnt want to do the work is far from the truth. There is all walks of classes living in any country and there are always more people who in the low class that are willing to do it but for a local to be hired, a company need to provides a whole list of benefits other than salary, some of which is not required if u hire foreign workers