Digitalization Of MSMEs Can Absorb Layoffs Due To The COVID-19 Pandemic

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous pressure on various sectors, not only the health sector. The bad impact of this pandemic has forced companies to terminate their employment (PHK). Due to this condition, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs provides a solution to absorb workers who are victims of layoffs.

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, Teten Masduki, said that his party plans to partner with workers who have been laid off due to COVID-19 to become resellers in encouraging the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

"Now the momentum is a lot of layoffs. Many well educated workers are laid off, college graduates, school graduates, just graduated and we can train them to become resellers of MSME products. So having resellers in the online market will help sales," said Teten in a virtual discussion. , Wednesday, June 24.

According to Teten, training workers to become resellers is not something new. In fact, the big marketplace Alibaba has done the same thing before plunging into digital sales.

"If I heard on Alibaba, their sales were before MSMEs went online, they were trained salespeople," he said.

Based on experience in providing assistance to MSMEs with e-commerce parties, Teten admitted, it is not easy for MSMEs to survive in the digital market.

"It does not mean that if they are connected to the online market they will continue to survive or grow. In fact, many fail, only 4-10 percent of success and that are many factors," he explained.

The factor that greatly affects MSMEs not being able to compete in the digital market is that a business actor has to do various jobs. For example, doing digital marketing to replying to incoming orders from customers.

"The ability of MSMEs to manage digital marketing including responding to consumer requests is also low. Because MSMEs are the same as large companies, there are also many CEOs. CEOs at MSMEs are chief officers so everything is done by himself," he said.

Furthermore, Teten explained, because of this condition, assistance was needed for MSMEs to sell their products in the digital market. One of them is by hooking up a reseller.

"It turns out that not all MSMEs can go online, so we also need resellers or intermediaries who can sell," he explained.