Graduates looking to enter the working world could get a pandemic-era boost after the COVID-19 task force committee endorsed a plan to subsidize their salaries at taxpayer’s expense.
To address the growing number of graduates unable to find jobs, THB23.4 billion (US$748 million) should be spent to subsidize their salaries, Labor Minister Suchat Chomklin proposed today. The plan, pending cabinet approval, would draw from the THB400 billion economic recovery fund passed earlier this year.
The campaign’s objective is to encourage companies to hire 260,000 fresh graduates nationwide by paying 50% of their salaries, capped monthly at THB7,500 for those with undergraduate degrees. Subsidies for students completing advanced vocational programs would be capped at THB5,750, which goes down to THB4,700 for those with lower level certificates.
The money would be paid directly to the employees through Krung Thai Bank for one year beginning Oct.1.
The kingdom has famously low unemployment but for one exception: recent grads. In March, the unemployment rate for those with attainment beyond high school had increased by 28% compared to a year earlier, from 90,000 to 115,000 people without jobs, according to the most recent numbers.
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