Factors Affecting the Employment of Workers in Small and Medium Enterprises in Thailand

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to study the employment situation of small and medium enterprises in Thailand and investigate the factors affecting the employment of small and medium enterprises in Thailand. The data of this quantitative research consisted of secondary data from the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion, the Ministry of Labor, and the office of the National Economics and Social Development Council in 2022. This research applied the linear regression model to analyze the data. The findings showed that there tended to be an increase in the number of employments of small and medium enterprises in Thailand during 2018–2022. However, it was found that the employment of most small and medium enterprises was concentrated in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, including Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, and Pathum Thani. In addition, the factors affecting the employment of small and medium enterprises were at the significance level of 0.01. It was found that if the Gross Provincial Product (GPP) increased and the number of small and medium enterprise operators increased, it would result in an increase in employment in small and medium enterprises. Therefore, the government sectors should implement economic policies that aim to develop the economy of each province, especially provinces that have had low employment numbers for many consecutive years. The government may implement policies that are characterized as spreading prosperity to the countryside by creating demand for labor in the countryside with measures to promote new investment from local people in order to increase new employments in the country.