East Java (East Java) Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa denied the issue of mass layoffs (PHK) at PT Gudang Garam Tbk which had gone viral on social media and online media news, because the incident was an early retirement program offered by company management to its employees.
"Regarding mass layoffs, what happened was not mass layoffs, what happened was an early retirement offered by the management of PT Gudang Garam," said Khofifah, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 9.
He added that the program had been going on for quite a while and involved only a small number of employees.
According to Khofifah again, 200 employees have applied for early retirement and this is a process that has taken a long time.
The issue has been sticking out since last weekend, after circulated viral videos on platforms such as Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), which featured a breakup moment for workers at a Gudang Garam factory in Tuban, East Java.
The video sparked speculation that thousands of employees were affected by layoffs due to the company's financial pressure, amid a 87.3 percent decrease in net profit in the first semester of 2025 to IDR 117.16 billion.
Head of the Manpower and Transmigration Office (Disnakertrans) of East Java Province Sigit Priyanto also confirmed the findings.
"It's on Instagram, I checked there, with the naker, with the manager, it turns out that there is an early retirement program offer. 200 have arrived but everything has been fulfilled," said Sigit.
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This is in line with the previous rebuttal from Gudang Garam management, which stated that the factory in Tuban remains operating normally with 800-850 employees.
However, the company's annual report data shows a gradual decrease in the number of employees from 32,491 people in 2019 to 30,308 in 2024, allegedly due to the impact of restructuring due to the increase in cigarette excise and the rise of illegal cigarettes.
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