Time for Pelindo to Lead Labour Reform in State-Owned Enterprises

The transformations implemented in recent years have brought significant changes to company performance. In 2025, Pelindo recorded a container throughput of 19.8 million TEUs and operating revenue of approximately Rp35.48 trillion. This achievement demonstrates that Pelindo continues to grow as an increasingly integrated and efficient port company.

However, such success does not arise solely from infrastructure investment, terminal modernisation, and digital transformation. Behind all these achievements are tens of thousands of workers who ensure that port activities run safely, smoothly, and productively every day. They work in various fields, ranging from vessel services, loading and unloading, terminal operations, and facility maintenance to security and various other supporting functions.

Therefore, when discussing Pelindo’s transformation, the issue of human resources must not be treated as a secondary concern. Ultimately, port modernisation depends on the humans who operate the technology, maintain safety, make decisions on the ground, and ensure uninterrupted service. This is where the issue of labour structure becomes important to discuss.

The use of outsourced workers is indeed a recognised business practice within the Indonesian labour system. The issue is not simply whether outsourcing is permitted, but rather the extent to which this model remains appropriate when applied in the long term to jobs that are a permanent part of company activities. This question is relevant for Pelindo because the nature of the port business requires experience, competence, discipline, and an understanding of operational systems that cannot be built in a short period.

The longer an individual works and the deeper their knowledge of the company’s business processes, the greater the value of their experience for the organisation. Consequently, workers who have performed the same function for years should not merely be viewed as figures in a cost structure. They are part of the human capital that contributes to the company’s success.

Job security also has a dimension of productivity. Workers facing uncertainty regarding their continued employment are certainly in a different psychological state compared to those with career certainty. Such certainty can strengthen a sense of ownership, responsibility, and commitment to the company. In the port industry, this issue is increasingly vital because work involves not only productivity but also safety. Port operations involve ships, heavy equipment, containers, vehicles, and large-scale human activity.

Experience and an understanding of the working environment are essential assets for preventing errors and accidents. Therefore, labour policies should not be calculated solely based on how much labour cost can be suppressed within a single budget year. What needs to be calculated is the value that workers can create for the company in the long term.

The assumption that outsourcing always results in cost efficiency also needs to be examined more comprehensively. In long-term calculations, companies must account for recruitment costs, training, labour turnover, adaptation to work systems, loss of experience, as well as administrative and third-party management costs. In other words, labour efficiency should not be viewed solely through the lens of wages or labour costs in a single period. True efficiency is the company’s ability to achieve productivity, quality, safety, and operational continuity at the most rational cost.

Another issue is human resource retention. Pelindo has built complex systems and work cultures. Workers who have been part of the company environment for a long time understand operational characteristics, safety procedures, work patterns, and various issues that may not be written in manuals. If experienced workers continuously face job uncertainty, the company faces the risk of losing that knowledge. When workers leave, the company must spend time and money again to acquire and train new personnel.

From a corporate governance perspective, this issue is also related to sustainability. State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) should not merely pursue profit and efficiency. BUMNs also have a responsibility to ensure that company growth aligns with the principles of good governance, regulatory compliance, and the creation of decent work. Job security has real social consequences for workers. More stable income and more certain employment relationships can help workers plan their family lives, gain access to financing, and build a more measurable future.

In banking practices, certainty of income and employment status can also be a factor considered in creditworthiness assessments. Therefore, labour reform in BUMN should not be viewed merely as a burden. It can be part of a corporate strategy to build a more productive, loyal, competent, and long-term oriented workforce. Of course, this idea does not mean that all outsourced workers should immediately be appointed as permanent employees. Such a policy must consider organisational needs, the nature of the work, worker competence, the company’s financial condition, and statutory regulations. However, Pelindo can take more progressive steps through a thorough evaluation of the types of work using outsourced labour, length of service, and needs.