Youth employment for post-COVID human-centred recovery in Thailand

As Thailand begins the socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, targeted and effective support is crucial to address the disproportionate impact that the crisis has had on youth. 



The International Labour Organization (ILO), through the Young Futuremakers Thailand project, and supported by the Standard Chartered Foundation, hosted an online webinar on October 11, 2021. The “Youth employment in Thailand: Impact of the COVID-19 crisis and lessons for a human-centred recovery“ webinar focused on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on youth employment, lessons from existing labour market policy responses for youth, and on opportunities to promote skills development and decent and productive employment for youth.



Opened by Mr Graeme Buckley, Director of the ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, the webinar brought together government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, private sector, youth, academia and other key stakeholders. It provided a platform to exchange knowledge that will be beneficial in shaping an inclusive, sustainable, resilient and human-centred recovery, and future of work for youth in Thailand.



The Vice Minister for Labour, Ministry of Labour, Mr Surachai Chaitrakulthong, gave the keynote speech stating: “The pandemic has had a severe impact on youth, especially new graduates. Youth-centric policy responses and support are needed to ensure that youth have access to opportunities for decent and productive employment and skills development”.



The main activity of the event was a panel discussion, with distinguished speakers providing inputs and knowledge that contributed to the wider discussion on youth employment in Thailand, as well as insights into the support needed to assist youth in tackling current labour market challenges and the future of work for youth in Thailand.

Original article published on ILO.