Illustrative image (Photo: Internet) Bangkok (VNA) - The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a serious labour shortage in factories, and hard hit Thailand’s exports, its main economic engine, according to CEOs surveyed by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The FTI, which surveyed 166 executives from 45 industry groups and 75 provincial industry councils on the topic of managing labour problems during the pandemic, found that the employment rate during the crisis remains about same as before the crisis, at around 53.6 percent.
However, labour shortages are currently affecting 45.2 percent of factories, resulting in a 30 percent drop in production capacity.
Capacity has reduced by 30-50 percent in 20.5 percent of factories and more than 50 percent in 7.8 percent of factories.
Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC) said that Thai exports could fall by as much as 300 billion baht (9 billion USD) between August and December if the number of industrial factories hit by the pandemic doubles.
Chaichan Chareonsuk, TNSC chairman, stated exporters are concerned about their prospects after COVID-19 infections have spread to at least 1,500 factories.
Chaichan predicted that overall Thai exports could be expected to grow only 7 percent this year.
In the first half of this year, Thai exports grew by 15.5 percent to 132 billion USD, while imports rose by 26.2 percent to 130 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of 2.44 billion USD.
The country has to date recorded 672,385 COVID-19 infections, after 20,200 new cases was logged on August 4./.
VNA
