Govt projects unemployment to reach 15%<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Some 13.4 million people, or nearly 15 percent
\nof Indonesia's 90 million-strong workforce, will be unemployed by
\nthe end of March next year, Minister of Manpower Theo L. Sambuaga
\nsaid yesterday.<\/p>\n
Theo told reporters after meeting President Soeharto that 4.8
\nmillion of those projected to be unemployed would be carried over
\nfrom last year, while another six million would be young people
\nentering the job market for the first time this year.<\/p>\n
Freshly laid off workers will make up the rest, he added.<\/p>\n
Theo reported the labor situation to President Soeharto at the
\nBina Graha presidential office yesterday. He was accompanied by
\nCoordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar
\nKartasasmita.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar said last week that the economic crisis would likely
\nforce the economy to contract five percent this year.<\/p>\n
The government has said the economy needed to grow at least
\nfive percent annually simply to absorb the millions of young
\npeople entering the job market each year.<\/p>\n
Theo said he would take over the job of coordinating the
\ngovernment's program of providing temporary work to the
\nunemployed.<\/p>\n
The task is currently handled by the National Development
\nPlanning Board, chaired by Ginandjar.<\/p>\n
The government is allocating Rp 598 billion (US$75 million) to
\nfinance labor-intensive projects nationwide for unskilled workers
\nwho have lost their jobs because of the economic turmoil.<\/p>\n
The projects, set up as part of the government's social safety
\nnet scheme to cushion the impact of the economic crisis, include
\ncleaning up rivers and gutters.<\/p>\n
Theo said his office was also working on a scheme to channel
\nsome 65,000 skilled workers to work in rural cooperatives.<\/p>\n
A labor expert warned yesterday that the actual unemployment
\nsituation could be far worse than indicated by official
\nstatistics.<\/p>\n
Payaman J. Simanjuntak, an aide to the minister of manpower
\nand a labor economics lecturer, told a seminar yesterday that the
\nofficial figures concealed what is known as "disguised
\nunemployment".<\/p>\n
The term refers particularly to seasonal workers and part-time
\nworkers who are officially categorized as employed but not on a
\nsustainable basis to ensure sufficient income.<\/p>\n
Government statisticians define employment as at least two
\nhours of work per week.<\/p>\n
Payaman said the number of people working less than 35 hours a
\nweek was estimated at 31 million, while the number of people
\nworking less than 14 hours a week was put at seven million as of
\nthe end of last year.<\/p>\n
With the economic situation worsening, the disguised
\nunemployment rate will likely increase, he said. (prb\/rms)<\/p>",
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