10,000 workers to lose jobs

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Around 10,000 employees in Central Java could lose their jobs by the end of the year, most of them working for textile factories, an official said on Tuesday.

Central Java Manpower and Transmigration Office official Anwar Wijianto said from March to mid December this year, 21 companies had dismissed 7,724 workers, of which 5,832 of them were workers in textile factories.

He said that in Surakarta, Central Java, a textile factory dismissed 1,128 of its workers because it could not compete with imported textile products.

"We got the figure from a recent meeting with the Central Java Indonesian Businesspeople's Association," Anwar said.

The association had not provided more information about the dismissed workers, he said.

Most companies laid off workers for efficiency reasons, he said. He hoped there would not be a further increase in the number of dismissed workers after the removal of several bylaws regulating labor conditions.

Many workers in the country began to lose their jobs in March when the government raised the fuel prices for the first time this year and the situation worsened when fuel prices were again increased in October, escalating the costs of raw materials and production.

Anwar said his office had applied for a budget of between Rp 3 billion (US$300,000) and Rp 4 billion next year to provide re- training for the unemployed.

"With accurate data we can train these unemployed people, including those workers who recently lost their jobs, according to their skills," Anwar said.

He added that the proposed budget would pay for training and facilities, it would not be given to workers as a cash benefit.

"We can train them to become tailors, to work in auto workshops or repair electronic appliances," Anwar said. More complete data about former employees, such as the gender and former occupations of workers would help the office plan training programs.

Provincial records 842,692 men and 590,079 women working for 15,862 companies. The province recorded 1.1 million unemployed people or around 7 percent of its estimated 14.8 million workforce, although partially employed people could push the numbers higher.

Anwar said the manpower office was working with employment agencies to provide information on vacancies abroad.

"Many of the unemployed people are still single and I'm sure that with their skills, they could work in (overseas) construction projects, electronic factories, plantations or as maids," he said.