Immigration, job vacancies, and employment dynamics: Evidence from Thai manufacturers

► Using Thailand's firm-survey data, this paper investigates the challenges experienced by firms employing immigrant workers and how immigrants help to fill job vacancies. ► Firms having job vacancies in either skilled or unskilled positions and losing production days due to slowdowns and stoppage of workers tend to employ more immigrant workers in order to fill those vacancies and smooth out their production. ► Labor cost concerns, either wage costs or fringe benefit costs, also force firms to employ more migrants in order to maintain their cost competitiveness.