CORE: Government Stimulus for Industry Could Open Formal Employment Opportunities

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Executive Director of the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, Mohammad Faisal, assessed that government stimulus for the industrial sector could open up formal employment opportunities, particularly in labour-intensive sectors.

“The government should also stimulate the private sector, because it is impossible for the government to provide jobs on its own,” Faisal said when contacted in Jakarta on Monday.

“So it (the government) provides fiscal stimulus for the private sector so that it can move to create more jobs, including in labour-intensive sectors,” he added.

Furthermore, Faisal said that the creation of formal jobs that absorb large numbers of workers is expected to have a multiplier effect on the economy in general.

In addition to stimulus for the domestic private sector, Faisal assessed that the government also needs to attract investment into labour-intensive industrial sectors.

“The hope is that the government can also attract investment into sectors that create more jobs domestically to encourage the growth of formal employment,” he said.

With more people absorbed into formal employment, it is hoped that their incomes will also increase, that they will have social protection and security, which in turn will directly boost their sense of security and consumption.

Previously, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded that the number of informal workers in Indonesia experienced a slight decline as of May 2026 (59.30 percent) compared with February of the same year.

The figure of 59.30 percent is equivalent to 87.88 million people working informally.

On the other hand, as of May 2026, BPS recorded that of the 148.19 million people who were working, 37.09 percent had the status of labourer/employee/civil servant.