Labour Minister Responds to Reports of 10 Companies Preparing Layoffs

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Minister of Manpower Yassierli has responded to reports from labour unions about 10 companies planning to streamline their workforce through termination of employment (PHK). Yassierli stated that his side has not yet heard detailed news regarding the issue. “I don’t know how that data came about,” Yassierli said at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, Jakarta, on Thursday (23/4/2026). He only emphasised that the Ministry of Manpower has its own monitoring system for each industry in Indonesia. However, he admitted that he has not received direct information about the 10 companies preparing for PHK. “We monitor everything in our industries continuously,” he explained. As is known, the issue of the layoff threat previously emerged from a statement by the President of the Indonesian Confederation of Trade Unions (KSPI), Said Iqbal. He stated that this layoff threat arises from the effects of global wars that are pressuring company performance. According to him, several companies have already begun discussing workforce streamlining. Said Iqbal has asked the government to respond immediately to this situation before a wave of layoffs truly occurs. “Stop the layoff threats due to war. Even though the war has a ceasefire, the consequences are due to the impact of fuel prices (BBM), and unsubsidized industries, the impacts are everywhere,” he said in an online press conference on Friday (10/4/2026). Said Iqbal claimed to have received reports from several companies that are starting to move towards workforce streamlining measures. “We have received reports from 10 companies in the West Java, Central Java, and parts of East Java regions,” he revealed. However, he declined to detail the identities of those companies because the process is still in the internal discussion stage. “But we cannot name the companies that have started inviting negotiations. They have started inviting negotiations to carry out rationalisation or employee efficiency. It’s already happening, so this is not empty talk, no! It’s really happening,” he stressed. He emphasised that this condition is an early signal that must be anticipated immediately by all parties, especially the government. “There are 10 KSPI member companies that have conveyed that there will be potential PHK looking at the next 3 months,” he said.