Massive layoffs in Tangerang leave 126,000 jobless

Massive layoffs in Tangerang leave 126,000 jobless

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Some 86,000 workers lost their jobs in massive lay offs in
Tangerang over the past year when the companies they worked for
declared bankruptcy, a top official said.

"The fired 86,000 workers have increased the total cumulative
number of unemployed in Tangerang since the economic crisis
started in 1997," Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin said over the
weekend in an address to the congregation of Baiturrahman mosque
in Keroncong subdistrict, Jatiuwung.

Separately, the head of the local manpower agency, Achmad
Kosasih, said that with the 86,000 laid off workers, the city now
had 126,000 people out of a job as previously the number of
unemployed was 40,000.

"In fact, there are many companies that have dismissed their
workers without reporting to this agency so it's difficult to
figure out the precise number of workers who have lost their
jobs," he remarked.

He added that the settlement of several dismissal cases were
still being processed either by the Central or Local Committees
for the Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4P/P4D), saying that
settlement of several other dismissal cases had also been sought
through the state administrative court.

According to Kosasih, unemployment would continue to increase
in Tangerang this year. "We're currently handling 260 cases of
proposed dismissals from a number of companies," he noted.

But he said that as of December, his agency had only
registered 21,000 job seekers, adding that most of the companies
that had dismissed workers were those which produced textiles,
garments and footwear.

"The companies had to lay off their workers because they
suffered from declining orders, which are mostly from overseas,
especially the U.S. and European countries," Kosasih said.

He said the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11 had
apparently had an impact on foreign orders for such products.
Many foreign buyers had also totally halted purchases from
Indonesia, leaving many factories, especially in Tangerang,
finding it difficult to pay their workers.