Illustrative photo (Photo: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai cabinet on September 22 approved an employment subsidy programme worth 19.46 billion THB (625 million USD) targeting 260,000 new graduates from universities and vocational institutes.
The scheme commits the government to paying 50 percent of the graduates' salaries, said Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin after the cabinet meeting.
The programme will last one year, starting next month, he said.
According to Suchart, the budget for the programme will come from the 400 billion THB set aside to help the economy recover from its COVID-19 fight and is a part of the Finance Ministry's remit to borrow money to finance COVID-19 economic rehabilitation programmes.
The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) will be responsible for screening projects financed by the programme. It covers three groups of new graduates: those with a bachelor's degree, those with high vocational certificates, and those with vocational certificates.
The subsidy is being offered to employers who hire university graduates with monthly salaries of up to 15,000 THB, high vocational graduates being paid a maximum of 11,500 THB per month and vocational graduates receiving up to 9,400 THB per month.
Employers eligible for the subsidy must not have laid off more than 15 percent of their staff in the past year. Eligible graduates must be Thai nationals, 25 years old or younger and must have completed their studies in 2019 or 2020.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the cabinet had approved in principle a 51-billion-THB scheme to raise monthly allowances for state welfare card holders./.
VNA
