Labor shortage after economy statrted to rebound

BANGKOK, 20 February 2010 (NNT) – Thailand is facing a labor shortage problem after the economy has started to recover, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

FTI President Santi Vilassakdanont, said the Thai economy has been recovering well as a result of the economic stimulus Strong Thailand Scheme of the government. However, many industries were facing a labor shortage as they had increased their production to correspond with the increasing sales, the president said. Although about 1.5-2 million more foreign workers have been recruited, at least 300,000 more are needed to compensate for the shortage.

Mr Santi added that the shortage had not been strongly felt yet but some operators had started to complain. He explained that this was because their sales had increased following the improving economy.

The FTI president also warned Thailand to keep abreast of the global and US economies following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to increase the discount rate to 0.75% to tackle inflation.