The Ministry Of Industry Projects A Wave Of Layoffs In The Manufacturing Sector Can Occur Until September

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Febri Hendri Antoni Arif estimates that the trend of Termination of Work Relations (PHK) in the manufacturing sector that is currently occurring can last for the next two months or September.

Febri admits that the current rise of layoffs is a residue of the import relaxation policy, so the labor-intensive manufacturing sector is still under pressure today.

At least, the wave of layoffs can continue until the revision of Permendag Number 8 of 2024 concerning Import Policy and Regulation applies.

"The current tax is due to the risk of the import relaxation policy. We estimate that the impact will continue to be felt until the revision of the Permendag 8/2024 is enforced, which is about two months from now," said Febri in the release of IKI July 2025 at the Ministry of Industry Building, Jakarta, Thursday, July 31.

Based on data from the Ministry of Industry, at least two million workers were laid off during the period August 2024 to February 2025.

He revealed, there are many labor-intensive industries, especially in the upstream sector that have lost demand (demand) in the market, so that downstream business actors decide to reduce labor.

According to Febri, the relaxation of imports through the implementation of Permendag 8/2024 has made cheap imported products more widespread and flooded the domestic market.

"We once again state that this is due to the excess of the import relaxation policy which makes the domestic market flooded with cheap imported products," he said.

It is known, based on data from the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker), the layoff rate in the January-June 2025 period reached 42,385 people.

That number increased by 32.1 percent compared to the same period last year of 32,064 people. Referring to One Data Ministry of Manpower, the highest layoff victims during January-June 2025 occurred in Central Java.

According to the sector, the most cases of layoffs occurred in the processing sector, namely 22,671 people, followed by large and retail trade and mining and excavation.