Bad News From The Textile Industry: Unable To Survive In The PPKM Level 4 Period, Layoffs Of Employees Are Back

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Textile and Textile Product (TPT) industry is unable to survive amid the continued extension of Level 4 Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) in Java and Bali. In fact, this labor-intensive industry has terminated employment (PHK) as much as 30 percent during the PPKM period.

Secretary General of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Rizal Tanzil Rahman said based on reports that most of the members had laid off 20 to 30 percent during the PPKM period.

Even so, said Rizal, this number can still increase because many have not reported the condition of their companies, not to mention industries outside the API members.

"I haven't calculated the whole thing, but yesterday several members have reported that they have reduced their employees. The average percentage is 20 to 30 percent," he told reporters, Wednesday, August 4.

Furthermore, Rizal explained, the occurrence of layoffs in the textile industry was unavoidable. This is because the character of this industry is very sensitive to activity restrictions. Moreover, currently the domestic market is still sluggish due to the PPKM for more than a month.

For example, said Rizal, the textile market in Tanah Abang was closed by the government. In fact, this market is one of the backbones of domestic textile product sales. As a result, the production capacity at the factory decreased sharply.

"The utility of this industrial production is in the range of 50 percent, including the impact of PPKM, some are even below that," he said.

For your information, the textile industry has been hit hard by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In 2020, at the beginning of the outbreak, this industry laid off and laid off 2 million employees.

As time goes on and the restrictions are relaxed, in the first quarter of 2021 as many as 60 percent of workers who have been laid off are re-employed. The number that has been employed has reached 1.2 million people.