1,000 Pertamina employees ask for early retirement

JAKARTA (JP): Some 1,000 employees of the state oil company Pertamina who are on the verge of receiving their pensions have requested retirement under the company's streamlining program, which is aimed at improving efficiency.

"Around 90 percent of the employees requesting early retirement are of low rank and most of them are more than 45 years old," Pertamina's junior director for general affairs, R.M. Pranoedjoe, told reporters here yesterday after the awards ceremony for a Pertamina-sponsored, student contest involving compositions on energy efficiency.

He said Pertamina, which is now employs some 46,000 people, has offered early retirement to its workers under its streamlining program which has been in effect since May.

The company plans to gradually reduce the number of its employees to 33,000 within the next five years, he said.

Pranoedjoe was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that his company found that the 1,000 employees requested an early pension by their own initiative.

He said Pertamina is providing financial compensation for the employees requesting early retirement. (fhp)