The fate of the Indonesian textile and textile products (TPT) industry must again face a sad fate. This is considering that a wave of layoffs (PHK) of employees will still occur in the industrial sector during 2023. Chairman of the Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wirawasta said that the trend of layoffs of employees in the TPT industry has not shown any signs of ending. Most recently, the TPT producer, PT ACP Purwakarta, had to lay off around 500 employees because it stopped operating as of July 18, 2023.

APSyFI notes, it is estimated that around 50,000 TPT industry employees will experience layoffs in semester I-2023. This number is indeed not as many as the layoffs that occurred in semester II-2022, namely around 100,000 employees. However, this still indicates that the national textile industry is still in a sluggish condition.

The Employment Social Security Administration Agency (BPJS) or BP Jamsostek has also been noted to have paid Job Loss Benefits (JKP) for 26,690 participants with a total value of IDR 159.1 billion during January-June 2023. Meanwhile, in February-December 2022, BP Jamsostek has paid JKP for 10,141 participants with a value of IDR 44.4 billion.

Also Read: Manufacturing Industry Investment IDR 270.3 Trillion in Semester I-2023

Redma said that the local TPT industry, both upstream and downstream, had difficulty getting up because of imports

illegal TPT products are still flooding the market without any significant action from the government. It's no doubt that the wave of layoffs has become difficult to stem when the performance of national TPT producers has declined.

“Many coordination meetings have been held, but this condition has been going on for almost a year. These illegally imported goods still dominate the domestic market," said Redma, Wednesday (26/7).

Meanwhile, Chair of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Labor Division Bob Azzam assessed that the Indonesian TPT industry is usually oriented towards the export market, especially developed countries in Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, until now the demand for TPT exports has fallen because the European region and the US are being hit by the threat of an economic recession.

"The weakening of TPT demand could reach 30%-40%, so the decline is quite deep," he said today.

Apindo also assesses that it is important for business actors to ensure that laid-off employees receive social security protection. It is also hoped that employees who have been affected by layoffs can immediately get new jobs, both in accordance with their previous skills and new skills.

Furthermore, Apindo also usually appeals to business actors to first make efficiency in their various business lines. In this case, laying off employees as much as possible is only the last option taken by the company.

If the layoff policy is forced to be carried out, the business actors concerned must be committed to immediately improving their performance. As a result, when business performance recovers, the company can re-hire employees.

“Layoffs are a phenomenon that has always existed. The most important thing is how to handle the fate of employees after being laid off, "he said.