Menaker: Companies Can Recruit Layoffed Employees

Illustration of workers in the Pasar Senen Underpass construction project (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - Millions of employees have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, before entering the concept of The New Normal, the Minister of Manpower, Ida Fauziyah, hopes that companies will recall the employees who had been affected.

Ida Fauziyah explicitly requested that employers want to recruit back workers / laborers who had been laid off and sent home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If this is done, companies will help the government reduce unemployment and expand new job opportunities.

"We hope that the implementation of the new normal can move the wheels of the economy, so that workers who have been laid off and sent home can be prioritized for returning to work, of course by strictly implementing health protocols in the workplace," said Ida in Jakarta, Tuesday, June 2.

There are many advantages if a company is willing to do this. First, employees need not have difficulty adapting to company culture. So that their performance can go straight to the optimal stage.

Companies will also immediately have employees according to company needs. Including work experience, thereby reducing time for training. "So that they can immediately work according to their expertise and do not need to hold job training (training) anymore. This certainly benefits the company to increase its productivity," said the Menaker.

Based on data from the Ministry of Manpower as of May 27, 2020, 1,058,284 formal sector workers were dismissed and 380,221 workers in the formal sector were laid off. Meanwhile, 318,959 workers in the informal sector were affected. In addition, there were 34,179 prospective migrant workers who failed to depart and 465 interns who were sent home. The total number of workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic was 1,792,108 workers.

"This is data that has gone through a cleansing process between the Ministry of Manpower and BPJS Employment. This data is clearly known by name by address," explained the Minister of Manpower.

According to Mrs. Ida, so far the Ministry of Manpower has made various efforts to maintain people's purchasing power in the midst of a pandemic. Among them are the optimization of the BLK program to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; and competency and productivity-based training incentives of Rp. 500 thousand per person.

"This incentive comes from refocusing the budget and is manifested in the form of training at the BLK by applying the Covid-19 health protocol. This program is to anticipate workers who have been laid off or laid off but have not been covered by the Pakerja Card," said the PKB politician.

The Ministry of Manpower also has programs for labor-intensive infrastructure, productive labor-intensive, Independent Workers (TKM), and entrepreneurial development through the Appropriate Technology (TTG) program.

"This is a program to develop and expand job opportunities for workers affected by Covid-19, prospective PMIs who failed to leave, PMI who were sent home, as well as micro and small business workers," said the Menaker.