Illustrative photo (Photo: AFP/VNA)Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai cabinet on September 22 approved anemployment 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 thegraduates' salaries, said Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin after the cabinetmeeting.
The programme will last one year, starting next month, he said.
According to Suchart, the budget for theprogramme will come from the 400 billion THB set aside to help the economyrecover from its COVID-19 fight and is a part of the Finance Ministry's remit toborrow money to finance COVID-19 economic rehabilitation programmes.
The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) will beresponsible for screening projects financed by the programme. It covers threegroups of new graduates: those with a bachelor's degree, those with highvocational certificates, and those with vocational certificates.
The subsidy is being offered to employers who hire university graduates withmonthly salaries of up to 15,000 THB, high vocational graduates being paid amaximum of 11,500 THB per month and vocational graduates receiving up to 9,400 THBper month.
Employers eligible for the subsidy must not have laid off more than 15 percentof their staff in the past year. Eligible graduates must be Thai nationals, 25years 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 inprinciple a 51-billion-THB scheme to raise monthly allowances for state welfarecard holders./.
VNA
