YOUNG FUTUREMAKERS THAILAND - PROMOTING YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY

The ILO has a long-standing commitment to promote decent work for youth. Supported by a unique tripartite structure, ILO’s activities on youth employment span over advocacy, knowledge development and dissemination, policy and technical advice and capacity building services. The comparative advantage of ILO’s work on youth employment lies in its proven ability to influence policy change by reaching out and involving different stakeholders – including youth representatives – through extended social dialogue, participatory practices and delivering technical assistance. The economic trends and demographic shift towards an ageing society in Thailand emphasize the importance of decent and productive employment for youth for current and future labour productivity growth in a rapidly changing world of work. The youth unemployment rate (aged 15 24) has been on the rise since 2010, despite a low overall unemployment rate in Thailand prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Recent research points to the critical role of youth employability in Thailand for the transition from school to work. Despite improved educational accessibility for youth, a mismatch remains between skills and labour demand, and the challenge encountered by the school-based career guidance system to provide students with individualized support, soft skills, appropriate career advice, including on starting a business. With the financial support from the Standard Chartered Foundation and in consultation with its tripartite constituents in Thailand, the Young Futuremakers Thailand - Promoting youth employability is initiated and begins in February 2021. The project takes a comprehensive demand-supply- and intermediation approach to support disadvantaged young women and young persons with disabilities, in particular young persons visual disabilities, through demand-led technical skills, employability training, career guidance and placement. In preparing for the future of work, the project also addresses gender, technological and environmental aspects in the content and delivery of activities. It seeks to contribute to improving the employability of young women and young persons with disabilities through skills, knowledge and competencies that enhance their ability to secure and retain a job, cope with change, and enter more easily into the labour market at different periods of the life cycle. The project is centred around the greater Bangkok metropolitan area and provinces in the central region of Thailand. The main objectives of the project are (1) improving employment-related knowledge and skills of disadvantaged young women and young persons with disabilities, (2) strengthening institutional capacities to provide tailored skills development and employment services, and (3) engaging with employers’ and workers’ organizations on inclusive workplaces, policies and practices to support the employment of excluded young people. The ILO implements the project with the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS), Employers’ Confederation of Thailand (ECOT) and sectoral business associations, Workers’ organizations (LCT, TTUC, NCPE, SERC) and enterprises, communities and local People With Disabilities associations.

Project symbol

THA/20/01/SCB

Admin unit

CO-Bangkok

Start date

01/02/2021

End date

31/08/2022

Total allocation

300000

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

282556

Development Partners

Standard Chartered Foundation

Country/Countries

Thailand

Outcomes

Outcome 3: Economic, social and environmental transitions for full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all