Angry job seekers force way into job fair
Angry job seekers force way into job fair
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Over 15,000 job seekers forced their way into a jobs fair at the
Tennis Indoor Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Friday,
breaking window panes and sending organizing committee members
fleeing in panic.
The huge crowd, which had been gathering since 6 a.m., lost
patience when the doord remained shut at 10:30 a.m., a half hour
after the scheduled opening time, as Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea officiated at the opening ceremony.
"I bought a Rp 20,000 (US$2.4) ticket to get into the jobs
fair at 6 a.m. as I wanted to be the first to be interviewed,"
said Karamoy, 30, a graduate from the private Gunadarma
University, who was among the first to get into the stadium.
By 11 a.m., one of the two ticket counters had been knocked
over by the impatient crowd and the ticket sellers had run away
to avoid possible assault.
"The committee are really unprofessional. How could they
possibly think that such a entrance would be sufficient and why
didn't they install dividers between the lines," said Edy
Sunanto, a diploma holder, who was seeking a position in a bank.
The four guards at the entrance eventually let the job seekers
in.
The situation calmed down somewhat only after a couple of
dozen policemen arrived and began directing people.
Franz Dirgantoro, an executive of Karir.com -- the co-
organizer of the event -- claimed they hadn't expected such a
large crowd.
The jobs fair, the first to be held by the organizer, will
close at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The situation in the main hall room was more like a
traditional market despite the flashy booths established by big
companies seeking employees. In fact, the hall was so crowded
that people had to struggle just to get from one booth to
another.
At least 52 companies, each of which paid Rp 2.8 million per
booth, participated in the fair, including Bank Niaga, Standard
Chartered Bank, food and beverage companies Orang Tua Group and
Garuda Food, Maersk Sealand, PT Tiga Raksa Satria and Sharp
Semiconductor, as well the Gramedia media group.
Earlier this week, about 12,000 people visited another jobs
fair at the same venue. According to Eddy S. Tjahya of
JobsDB.Com, the co-organizer of the fair, the event was
successful.
Last year, another jobs fair in Jakarta turned ugly as tens of
thousands of desperate job seekers attempted to be first in.
Commenting on the near riot, Indonesian Employers Association
(Apindo) chairman Sofjan Wanandi said that it showed the failure
of the government, especially the manpower ministry, to provide
job opportunities.
"It exemplifies also how critical the unemployment problem in
Indonesia is," said Sofyan.
According to the Center for Labor and Development Studies, at
least 42 million people were unemployed in 2003, including more
than 600,000 bachelors degree holders. Over 2.5 million job
seekers are produced each year but only 1.1 million can find
work. According to the Jakarta Manpower Agency, 700,000 people
were unemployed in the city in 2003.