Toba Pulp Lestari to Lay Off Employees, Ministry of Manpower Reminds of Obligations

Deputy Minister of Manpower Afriansyah Noor stated that his ministry has not yet received complaints regarding the planned layoffs (PHK) at PT Toba Pulp Lestari Tbk. “We have not received a fixed report, but it will be a special concern for us,” he said in South Jakarta on Tuesday, 28 April 2026.

Toba Pulp Lestari will lay off 80 percent of its employees on 12 May 2026. This layoff is a consequence of the revocation of its forest utilisation business licence (PBPH).

In response to the planned layoffs, Afriansyah reminded the company to comply with its obligations towards former employees. “If they are laid off, they must receive social security and unemployment benefits that the company is required to fulfil,” he stated.

For the layoff victims, Afriansyah said the Ministry of Manpower will facilitate training to enhance skills or upskilling, as well as soft skills training.

Information regarding this layoff plan was previously disclosed through a stock exchange filing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. According to the company’s statement, management has socialised the layoff policy to employees on 23-24 April 2026.

“The termination of employment is carried out as a result of the revocation of the company’s PBPH, which impacts the cessation of forest utilisation activities within the company’s PBPH area,” management wrote, quoted from the disclosure on Monday, 27 April 2026.

Toba Pulp Lestari is one of 28 companies whose permits were revoked by the government in January due to alleged environmental damage that triggered disasters in Sumatra.

Of the 28 companies whose permits were revoked, 22 are involved in natural PBPH and plantation forests covering 1,010,592 hectares, and six are in mining, plantations, and wood forest product utilisation business licences (PBPHHK).

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Rosa Vivien Ratnawati stated that these 28 companies were proven to have damaged the surrounding environment.

The permit revocation is a government policy to restore the natural environment in those locations. “They contributed to the disasters that occurred,” Rosa said at Plaza Kuningan on Wednesday, 21 January 2026.