Advertisement misleads 150 job seekers

JAKARTA (JP): Some 150 people seeking jobs at the city administration based on a newspaper advertisement felt completely fooled on Thursday when they learned that the financially troubled administration had no plans to recruit new staff.

With applications in their hands, the disappointed job seekers, mostly fresh university graduates, arrived at City Hall in Central Jakarta as early as 8 a.m. only to find "no vacancy" notices posted on windows at the entrance and on other parts of the building.

"We feel that we have been fooled by the city administration," said an angry Andi Santi, one job seeker.

"How can they say there's no recruitments here when the Ministry of Home Affairs stated the opposite?" she asked.

According to ministry's advertisement in the widely circulated Kompas daily on Sept. 12, the ministry is to recruit 7,204 people to work in both central government and local administrations.

Some of the people looking for jobs at the Jakarta administration on Thursday also carried copies of the advertisement calling for people to apply for a job at City Hall.

The ad stated that the Jakarta administration would recruit 318 people and applications should be submitted on Thursday and Friday.

Santi said she and other job seekers were really disappointed in the administration. She said people were struggling hard to find job during this time of hardship.

"When I was informed by a relative who works at the Ministry of Home Affairs about the opportunity, I enthusiastically prepared all prerequisites required for the applicants.

"But I am so disappointed with the administration's response. I think it should be held responsible for causing the mixup," said the fresh graduate from the School of Economics and Management of Borobudur University in East Jakarta.

Santi and two of her friends, Ranita and Bunga, said they had pinned their hopes on working at the administration as they had been unemployed since they left university last year.

"How can the administration do such a thing amid the current difficulties of looking for a job at private companies?" asked Ranita.

Most of the disappointed applicants claimed to have spent at least Rp 10,000 to complete the requirements, including to obtain medical reports and photographs.

Another applicant, Wisnu, wanted the administration to explain the problem.

"We've waited here for about five hours but no single official tried to meet us to explain the case," he said.

According to an official from the city's control center for social disturbances, Raya Siahaan, who arrived at the scene to handle possible chaos, the administration received a letter from the ministry explaining about the recruitment of new civil employees on Sept. 1.

"On Sept. 10, Governor Sutiyoso replied and told the ministry that the administration could not recruit new employees due to the drastic drop in the city's budget," he told The Jakarta Post.

"So I don't know why the ministry still advertised for recruits," he said.

The city's employee affairs bureau head, Adjat Wiraatmadja, said his office, following the ministry's advertisement, had provided funds to the city's public relations bureau to publicize the fact that the Jakarta administration was not recruiting this year.

Instead of placing ads, the public relations bureau made the announcement by posting notices on the City Hall building.

"I still have no idea why the bureau didn't do what it was assigned to do," Adjat said, giving no details of the amount of money allocated to the public relations office.

Adjat explained that the administration currently has some 70,000 civil servants.

When asked to comment on Adjat's statement, public relations bureau head Kamaludin Santos said that nobody had assigned him to place advertisements.

"I know nothing about recruitments. We did not receive any funds for such an advertisement. The administration is now facing 'financial collapse' in that we have no money to make such an announcement (to counter the ministry's ads)," Santos said.

After waiting for about seven hours, the frustrated job hunters dispersed peacefully after an official from the city's social political directorate office promised to make a public apology. (ind)