Labor
Informal workers find jobs easy, conditions poor
Young workers employed in Phnom Penh’s expansive informal economy may find it easy to get a job, but they face a high likelihood of labor abuses and receive significantly less pay than their peers in the formal sector, according to a study released over the ...
Seventeen laborers walk home to Cambodia after being trafficked in Thailand
Seventeen laborers from Cambodia have returned home after they were trafficked to work in Thailand’s logging industry and had their pay withheld, forcing them to walk back to the border, a rights group said on 2 September. The 17 had been lured into Thailand with promises ...
Ministry instructs employers to offer contracts
The Ministry of Labour announced on 1 September that all employees must be under an official contract. The announcement was made on the same day the country’s first minimum wage went into effect, a landmark many workers expected would result in massive layoffs as factories attempted ...
Mediator records fewer strikes
In what it deemed an “inspiring trend” for Cambodia’s labour relations, the Arbitration Council reported that the number of cases it registered involving strike action – as well as the total number of cases themselves – declined in the first half of this year. Keep reading ...
Laos working to repatriate workers enslaved on Thai farm
The government will continue to coordinate with the Thai Embassy in Laos to provide assistance and repatriate Lao workers who were found enslaved and kept in cages on a farm in Thailand. Keep reading ...
Vietnamese laborers flock to China, Laos to work illegally despite issues
According to statistics from Vietnam’s Lao Cai province’s department of labor, invalids and social affairs, every year about 4,000 laborers leave the province for China. Quang Van Tinh, who lives in Muong Ang district’s Bung Lao commune, still feels angry when recalling his time in China. After ...
New minimum wage sees workers sacked and struggling
After almost two years of arguments and negotiations, Myanmar has set its first minimum wage at K3600 (US$2.80) per day. The milestone was met with ambivalence by factory owners, and trepidation by garment workers, who fear many jobs will be axed to afford the move. The ...
Construction workers needed for Thai-Myanmar SEZ
A raft of additional labourers is needed as construction of the Thai-Myanmar Special Economic Zone in Mae Sot kicks off, Tak province, project leaders say. Keep reading ...
Thailand preparing students for the new business environment
Thailand has been transitioning to a service-based economy, which accounts for just over half of GDP, and universities are being urged to enhance the capacity of new graduates to meet changing market demand. Bangkok University has noted this changing trend and is grooming students to serve ...
Labour shortages in Sihanoukville
Aiming to one day become a major manufacturing base in Cambodia, Sihanoukville faces an uphill battle in attracting workers, provincial officials have said. Yow Khemara, director of the Department of Labour and Vocational Training at Preah Sihanouk province, said Sihanoukville currently lacks about 4,000 workers in ...
