In the midst of Indonesia's economic growth which is claimed to be better amid the pressure of the domino effects of war and the Covid-19 pandemic, a storm of layoffs (PHK) hit. Particularly in the Indonesian manufacturing sector due to pressure from the unstable global economy. Where the global economy is threatened with a recession, which makes a lot of demand for several Indonesian export goods to experience a decline. Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Hariyadi Sukamdani saw data on workers disbursing Old Age Security (JHT) funds showing the high rate of layoffs in Indonesia at this time.

"BPJS Ketenagakerjaan records that there have been layoffs of 919,071 workers who disbursed JHT funds (Old Age Security) as a result of layoffs from January to November 1 2022. With two months left of that data, it is possible that 1 million people have disbursed JHT," said Hadiyadi, quoted Monday (25/12/2022).

This data is the most adequate data as a valid source of information considering that every BPJS Ketenagakerjaan worker who has been laid off has an interest in withdrawing his JHT funds, compared to layoff data in other Ministries/Institutions which comes from company reports where many companies do not report them.

Hariyadi also revealed that compared to the previous year, there were 376,456 layoffs that occurred in 2019, increased in 2020 to 679,678, and now reaches 922,756 in 2021.

Most Textile Industry

The textile and textile products industry is the first to suffer from the global economic slowdown.

In fact, TPT factory production continues to decline by up to 50%, which is also projected to continue until 2023.

Secretary General of the Indonesian Filament Fiber and Yarn Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wirawasta, said that currently there are more than 100 thousand textile workers who have been cut. In fact, it is predicted that this number could be even higher if we take into account the small and micro-scale sewing industry.

"If the government doesn't anticipate this condition immediately, up to 500 thousand people could be affected in the first quarter of 2023. But the government doesn't believe it," said Redma, (26/12/2022).

"Right now there are around 20 garment and fiber companies that have closed. They don't report because later they will be asked to pay severance pay if they are laid off. Some have 1,000 employees, they are told to come in alternately, so they just clean the factory, paint," he added

Those factories, he said, were victims of the drop in orders in the export market. Until it causes a decrease in production, and slowly has to stop operations.

"They are waiting for the wind. If there is a good signal, there are more orders, they will start again. Workers who were previously laid off, if they haven't worked yet, can be called in again. What is clear is that there has been a reduction in employees, some factories have closed, this has continued until now," he said.