Is It True That The Threat Of Mass Layoffs Still Happening This Year?

The government must be able to reduce the unemployment rate which has reached 8.4 million people by 2022. (Between/M Ibnu Chazar/foc/aa)

JAKARTA Indonesian labor conditions are still experiencing the threat of mass layoffs (PHK). A number of business sectors, especially in the field of technology and manufacturing businesses, are still making adjustments to the unfavorable market situation.

Badai PHK di perusahaan teknologi sudah berlangsung setidaknya sejak awal 2022. Emiten teknologi PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk melakukan permbanding dengan memutus hubungan kerja 1.300 karyawannya.

Shopee Indonesia, Tokocrypto, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson, JD.ID, Mamikos, LinkAja, SiCepat, Ruangguru, and a number of other technology companies also do the same.

Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) Bhima Yudhistira said there were at least 20 companies spread across the fintech sector, e-commerce, andagritech that reported layoffs.

Even now, these companies have not fully recovered. Still on guard to anticipate times full of uncertainty. Not to mention in the textile industry, in August 2022 alone, according to BPS (Central Statistics Agency) data, there was a reduction in the number of workers from 1.13 million to 1.08 million workers," Bhima told VOI on April 18.

However, data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mapped Virtual Capitalistjustru predicts the unemployment rate in Indonesia in 2023 will only reach 5.3 percent.

If this percentage refers to the Indonesian workforce population, which amounts to 143.72 million people based on the National Labor Force Survey (Sakernas), it means that there will be 7.6 million unemployed by 2023. This figure indicates that conditions have returned to a period before the pandemic.

The unemployment rate in Indonesia in 2015-2019, according to BPS data, ranged from 7 million. In August 2015 as many as 7.56 million people, August 2016 as many as 7.03 million people, August 2017 as many as 7.04 million people, August 2018 as many as 7 million people, and August 2019 as many as 7.05 million people.

Then, it increased dramatically as of August 2020, precisely when the government had decided on the status of the pandemic. The number of unemployed in Indonesia reached 9.77 million people.

However, the next period decreased to 9.1 million people as of August 2021 and 8.42 million people as of August 2022.

Whether or not these estimates are true, the government must remain vigilant in responding to the current period of uncertainty. An important anticipatory step was taken according to Bhima, by maintaining the purchasing power of the lower middle class.

"If not, the Indonesian economy will be very vulnerable to external pressure," added Bhima.

Unemployment is a serious problem that can have a negative impact on the economy of a country. If people do not have jobs, purchasing power will decrease and national income will also fall.

In the end, this condition will spread to social problems. Avoiding this, the government must ensure that the economy can grow in balance with the growth of the workforce. So that the number of jobs available is sufficient with the number of job seekers.

So far, the government has been trying to grow a conducive investment climate in Indonesia by presenting the latest legal products, such as Perppu Number 2 of 20022 concerning Job Creation.

In its consideration points, the Job Creation Perppu can provide convenience, protection, and empowerment of cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises, increase the investment ecosystem, and accelerate national strategic projects, including increasing the protection and welfare of workers.

So that it is able to absorb the widest possible Indonesian workforce in the midst of increasingly competitive competition and demands of economic globalization as well as global economic challenges and crises that can disrupt the national economy.

"By increasing the number of investments from within and outside the country, job opportunities will be wider, unemployment rates will decrease, and labor and labor welfare in the country will increase," said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in his statement on Labor Day 2023.

In addition, efforts to improve the quality of Human Resources (HR), both by developing vocational education and increasing labor skills are also important.

Upskilling and reskilling labor efforts are continuously carried out through pre-employment programs, as well as through the Job Training Center carried out by the government, society, and industry.

For this reason, the President invites all stakeholders to take advantage of the momentum of Labor Day to make it all happen.

"We must take advantage of this momentum to continue to expand job opportunities, improve the welfare of workers and workers, protect the rights of workers and workers, and increase national productivity and competitiveness," said the President.

"Happy International Labor Day 2023," added President Jokowi.