Thailand – Demand for IT jobs soars amid pandemic (Bangkok Post)

IT will be the most in-demand job category in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as organisations gear up for digital transformation, reports the Bangkok Post, citing data from job portal JobsDB Thailand. The top five industries for employment during the crisis are IT; marketing and public relations; sales, customer service and business development; hospitality and food and beverage; and merchandising and purchasing. Pornladda Dathratwibul, country manager of JobsDB Thailand, said, “There will be a shortage of IT workers since business demand for them will rise as businesses gear up for digital transformation, particularly the move to capitalise on online channels. In April, when the country began instituting restrictions, IT job searches soared 12% on the JobsDB platform compared with the three months before. Meanwhile, data from JobsDB showed that 88% of businesses are optimistic about the employment situation in the second half, saying they plan to resume recruitment activity again. Up to 7 million employees are expected to be out of a job during the crisis, the company said, adding that approximately 25% of Thai employees indicated that the virus outbreak had a direct impact on their employment.