Some 5 million Gen Y, Z employees in Thailand staring at possible job losses

Thanavath Phonvichai, UTCC president

BANGKOK — Approximately 5 million Generation Y and Z employees face economic uncertainty as they risk being laid off because they do not have enough working experience, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce pointed out.

Thanavath Phonvichai, the university president and adviser to the Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting, said that the Bank of Thailand also had concerns about this issue.

“If these employees are laid off, they would face difficulties in their daily lives because they have a lot of debt and they do not save money,” he said.

“These employees may borrow from loan sharks that charge extremely high rates of interests, so we would like to urge related authorities to supervise their spending.”

He said the government’s fifth phase of lockdown easing would help stimulate the economy and maintain employment because this move would encourage people to spend up to Bt9 billion per day or Bt250 billion per month which means Gen Y and Z employees who work at entertainment venues can return to work.

“However, the value of domestic spending this year is expected to be at Bt20 billion per day. If the government wants to maintain the money circulation as in the previous year, they will have to allow foreign tourists to travel to Thailand because foreign tourists spend approximately Bt8 billion per day, more than Thai tourists who spend Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion per day,” he said.

He added that if people in the country do not travel across provinces due to uncertainty following the Covid-19 pandemic, the government should instruct government authorities to hold seminars and activities to gain the confidence of people and maintain tourism.

“Many parties are worried about the global economy as the Covid-19 fallout has forced employers to close businesses, lay off employees, and cut employees’ salaries,” he added. “If many countries worldwide cannot prevent the second coronavirus wave and maintain their economy, the virus crisis may turn into a financial crisis in the future.”