Monday 2 April 2012

Myanmar reforms could mean tighter SE Asia labor market



The Wall Street Journal reports:

As Myanmar tallies the last votes from Sunday’s critical parliamentary by-elections, many business leaders are pondering the implications of the country’s recent run of political reforms. For many Southeast Asia-based companies, the big issue is whether migrant workers from the country also known as Burma decide to return home, resulting in a tighter labor market – especially in Thailand.An estimated one million or more Burmese migrant workers fill mostly low-wage jobs in Thailand. If political and economic conditions keep improving in Myanmar, experts believe it’s likely that many of those workers will indeed go back, while others still at home might decide to never leave at all. All that would mean companies in Thailand and elsewhere could eventually face higher labor costs.

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