According to the Indonesian Employers' Association (APINDO), almost 1 million people lost their jobs due to layoffs in the first 11 months of 2022. The data is based on the number of unemployment claims filed to the workers' social security agency, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan.
Speaking in an online press conference on the Job Creation Perpu on January 3, APINDO chairman Hariyadi B Sukamdani said that the mass layoffs were an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which some companies are still reeling from.
Hariyadi added that decline in export performances was an another factor and the mass layoffs were also an indirect result of the provincial minimum wage hike, which forced companies to downsize.
To prevent layoffs from spreading further, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said the ministry will utilise this year's remaining fiscal space as there is still an ample amount of the state's spending budget that can be allocated for November and December 2022.
She revealed the allocation of state expenditure is expected to rise considerably during the last two months of 2022. This will surely boost the economy's ability to withstand turbulence.
The minister said there was still around 1,200 trillion IDR (76.8 billion USD) left of state spending as of November 2022, which will be used to provide social assistance whether in the form of wage subsidies or other social aid programmes, to act as a social buffer for the public.
She added that the state budget will also be directed toward stimulating the business climate for various industrial sectors. The stimulus policies will still refer to plans included in the national economic recovery programme (PEN), such as reviving the tourism and manufacturing sectors./.
VNA
