NationThailand-June 4
Low level of literacy and digital skills among both youth and the workforce likely to have serious economic impacts in the future. The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) has expressed concern that the skills and readiness of youth and the working-age population are well below international standards, which will almost certainly impact the economy in the long term. The NESDC’s secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan was speaking after a survey showed that 64.7% have literacy skills below the standard, and 74.1% have substandard digital skills. This indicates that a significant portion of the youth and working-age population cannot perform basic reading and computer tasks effectively. Data from We Are Social ranks Thailand 39th out of 63 countries in digital skills, despite high daily internet usage. This lack of skills could result in an economic loss of up to 3.3 trillion baht per year due to low labor productivity, limited innovation, and reduced foreign investment.
This situation is particularly concerning when combined with the issue of low birth rates, which will decrease the number of capable workers in the future. “This underscores the urgent need for Thailand to seriously enhance the skills of its population to compensate for the shrinking workforce and support the transition to a high-value economy and industry,” Danucha said. Recently released statistics reveal that in the first quarter of 2024, the number of employed persons was 39.6 million, a slight decrease of 0.1% compared to the same period the previous year. This was due to a decline of more than 5.7% in agricultural employment during the off-season.
Meanwhile, non-agricultural employment grew by 2.2%, with the hotel and restaurant sector continuing to expand by 10.6% due to the influx of over 9.3 million international tourists. Similarly, the construction sector grew by more than 5%. Read more at: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/policy/40038538
