Young people in Thailand’s Songkhla and Yala provinces struggling to enter the labour market

BANGKOK, Thailand (ILO News) – Limited career guidance services and a mismatch between student skills and labour market needs are having a major impact on youth employment in Thailand’s Songkhla and Yala provinces, with students in rural areas and in informal education hardest hit according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Seeking to shed light on youth labour market dynamics in the southern region of Thailand, the report 'Promoting Youth Employment in Songkhla and Yala, Thailand’ highlights a number of issues impacting the employment of young people in the 15-29 age range.

The report highlights the challenges faced by educational institutions and public employment services to help young people plan their futures, leading to uninformed career choices or a reliance on low skilled jobs readily available in the labour market.

Programmes which aim to support youth to enter the labour market have struggled to keep up with current labour demand and the labour market situation, while limited work-based learning opportunities and a lack of engagement by employers and companies in the school-to-work transition process are holding back young people in the two provinces.

"Young people in Songkhla and Yala face a number of challenges entering the labour market. Tackling youth unemployment issues is not only crucial for individual livelihoods but also imperative for propelling Thailand's social and economic advancement," said Oktavianto Pasaribu, Deputy Director of ILO’s Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

In 2022, Songkhla had over 370,000 youth aged 15 to 29, with a labour force participation rate of 53.6 per cent. There was a noticeable gender disparity, with fewer young women engaged in economic activities and a significant portion of young women not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

Yala, with over 150,000 youths aged 15 to 29, had less than half of its youth population active in the labour market as of 2022. The province exhibited a high NEET rate of 30.8 per cent, with three out of five NEETs being female.

In Q3 2022, Thailand had a total of 14.7 million people aged 15–29 with 8.5 million youth (57.7 per cent) participating in the labour force. At the same time, approximately 1.2 million young people in Thailand were NEET with the national NEET rate standing at 13.2 per cent.

The report, conducted by the ILO Young Futuremakers Thailand – Phase II Project, advocates a series of measures to help enhance the employability of youth in Songkhla and Yala. These include demand-led skills training, the creation of work-based learning opportunities to improve the school-to-work transition for young people as well as a more integrated approach between local administrations, provincial employment offices and provincial skills institutes.

"The aim of this analysis is not only to shed light on youth employment challenges in Songkhla and Yala but also to provide insights that can guide the development of tailored policy recommendations and interventions to support the future of Thailand’s labour force," added Kawita Niwatananun, National Project Coordinator of the Young Futuremakers Thailand – Phase II Project.