1,000 Pertamina employees ask for early retirement

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)