A crisis for workers
Venue closure, curfew and state policies enforced to contain the spread of Covid-19 are affecting the labour force severely. Workers experience the impact in different magnitudes, with some getting less pay and seeing their working hours reduced. Others manage to work from home. Some lose their jobs entirely.
Around the world, the International Labour Organisation estimates that about 5 to 25 million people could lose their jobs as a result of the economic and labour crisis caused by the pandemic.
But while the pandemic may affect each profession in different degrees, informal workers are facing the most disruption during this economic decline. In Thailand, there are over 20 million informal workers, which amounts to the majority of the country’s entire workforce. These occupations include but are not limited to farmers, street vendors, construction workers, motorcycle taxi riders, and more. They have already been facing irregular income, with minimum to no job security or worker’s benefits. Now, they’re most likely being hit the hardest as they struggle to make ends meet, and could face prolonged impact even after the pandemic subsides.
MELALIN MAHAVONGTRAKUL
