Government Funds for Worker Retraining

The government is offering a monthly subsidy of around Bt5,000 per worker for employers who need to retrain staff during these tough economic times.
"The subsidy will be granted for a period of two to six weeks," Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said yesterday, "By applying for the subsidy employers must agree not to lay off their workers during the next 12 months".

He was speaking after he chaired a meeting on the Bt6.9billion project to empower unemployed people.

Korbsak said the retrained workers had the right to resign if they wished to return to their home provinces.

"The workers will receive about Bt5,000 each month for about two to four months after the training," he said.

Korbsak expected the Bt6.9billion project to provide necessary training for about 500,000 people. Priority would be given to fresh graduates who still owe money to the government-sponsored student-loan fund programme, people who are keen to return to start a sustainable livelihood in their hometowns, and workers laid off from the industrial sector.

Korbsak also announced a new guideline for allocating funds to registered communities in the countryside,

The amount of funds will be based on community size. A registered community with fewer than 50 residents will get funds not exceeding Bt100,000. The fund ceiling for bigger-sized communities will be Bt200,000 for those with 51 to 150 members;Bt300,000 for 151 to 250 members; Bt400,000 for 251 to 500 members; Bt500,000 for 501 to 1,000 members; and Bt600,000 for 1,001 to 1,500 member communities.

For a community with 1,501 residents or more, the fund amount shall not exceed Bt700,000.

 Source - The Bangkok Post