The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) noted that the performance of the textile and manufacturing industry in the country strengthened throughout the third quarter of 2022 amid the issue of Termination of Employment (PHK) in this industrial sector. Acting Head of the Center for Macroeconomic Policy at the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Ministry of Finance, Abdurohman, explained that the export growth of textile products was still very high until the third quarter of 2022. Exports of apparel and clothing accessories (HS61) grew 19.4 percent, non-knitted clothing and accessories (HS62) grew 37.5 percent, and footwear (HS64) grew 41.1 percent as of September 2022.

In addition, he continued, Indonesia's Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) also grew, touching 53.7 in September 2022, up from 51.7 in August 2022.

"So until September's position in the third quarter (2022), it shows that the performance in textiles is actually still quite high," said Rohman, Saturday (11/5/2022).

In fact, as reported by Antara, the sales growth of the textile industry, which reached 10 percent, was higher than the total manufacturing industry which was 5 percent in September 2022.

"This textile has double-digit growth, while the manufacturing industry is only around 5 percent of sales. So it's a bit confusing if for example layoffs occur," said Rohman.

On another occasion, the Minister of Finance (Minister of Finance) Sri Mulyani highlighted the mass layoffs in the textile industry which may have been caused by the relocation of factories to areas with lower wages. This is supported by infrastructure development, especially in Java, which is getting better, so that more industrial areas are developing.

"So, there may be layoffs in one area, but job opportunities appear in other areas," said Sri Mulyani.

Previously, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmadja said that some of the textile industry employees had been laid off due to falling demand for textiles.

"So in the past, the average textile company worked 7 days a week, every day they worked for 24 hours. But now they only work a maximum of 5 days, Saturday-Sunday is off," said Jemmy.