Threat of Mass Layoffs at PT Feng Tay: DPR Urges Optimisation of Social Safety Nets

Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Yahya Zaini, has highlighted the threat of termination of employment (PHK) for approximately 4,000 workers at PT Feng Tay in Bandung Regency, West Java. The workers of the Nike supplier company are currently furloughed. Yahya is urging the government to optimise social safety nets for the workers. He stated that this situation serves as an important warning for the government to strengthen the labour protection system and mitigate the threat of layoffs. Yahya assessed that the furloughing of thousands of workers should not be viewed solely as an industrial relations issue between the company and its employees. He cautioned that Indonesian workers remain vulnerable to changes in global business strategies and fluctuations in international market demand. “This incident shows that Indonesian workers are still very vulnerable to changes in global business strategies and fluctuations in international market demand,” Yahya said in a statement in Jakarta on Monday (22/9). In export-oriented, labour-intensive industries, he noted, workers are often the first to feel the impact when there is a decline in orders or disruptions in the global supply chain. Therefore, the government must ensure protection for workers and their families during periods of uncertainty. “Although currently it is only a potential layoff, the Government needs to prepare mitigation as an anticipatory step,” he continued. He stressed the importance of optimising social safety net programmes for furloughed workers, including through the Job Loss Insurance (JKP) scheme, skills upgrading training, and the redeployment of labour to sectors that are still growing. “Of course, social safety nets for furloughed workers must be optimised because they now have no definite income,” he asserted. Furthermore, Yahya believes that labour protection must be carried out more anticipatively by strengthening the early warning system so that potential waves of layoffs can be detected more quickly. According to him, the integration of employment data, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, industrial estates, and local governments needs to be strengthened to map the risk of disruption to the workforce. “The labour protection system needs to move more anticipatively. When a company begins to experience production pressure, the Government must have an early warning mechanism that allows mitigation steps to be taken before the wave of worker furloughs expands,” he concluded. As previously reported, around 4,000 workers at PT Feng Tay in Bandung Regency, West Java, are threatened with layoffs. According to various sources, the reasons for the potential layoffs include the completion of Nike shoe orders at PT Fengtai and the lack of certainty regarding subsequent orders. Additionally, there have been delays in raw material supplies due to the war situation, causing distribution to be diverted to other suppliers.