Tempo Eksplainer: Badai PHK di Awal Pemerintahan Prabowo
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00:00The closure of some factories caused the decision-making bubble of labor relations or PHK to re-emerge.
00:10The manufacturing sector, which is mostly labor-intensive, such as textiles and garments, became the most affected.
00:16In the last five months, at least eight manufacturing and technology companies have done PHK to their employees.
00:23The reasons are diverse, from the lack of purchasing power, to the shortage of export and domestic markets, to industrial policy.
00:32One thing that caught the eye was the collapse of the textile company PT Seri Dajaki Isman TBK or Seri Text in Sukoharjo, Central Java.
00:39After the official closure of PHK and the closure of the factory, the company fired 10,665 of its employees.
00:45The textile production market, which once exceeded more than 100 countries, was unable to survive the global economic crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its sales continued to decline.
00:58The Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association, or APINU, estimated around 24,000 employees lost their jobs in early 2025.
01:06It refers to the number of employees who have submitted employment loss insurance to the Employment Services Agency in the last two months.
01:13PHK is at risk of increasing the number of unemployed by tens of thousands of workers.
01:18The Statistics Center reported that the number of unemployed in August 2024 reached 7.4 million people, an increase compared to February 2024, which was 7.19 million people.
01:32The Chairperson of the Department of Labor, Bob Azam, said that the main cause of PHK is a combination of global conditions, government policy, and the competitive power of the domestic industry.
01:41However, he claimed that the main factor that makes the industry tight-lipped is a decline in export demand due to global uncertainty.
01:49Especially in the midst of a critical company condition due to a decline in export demand, the domestic market cannot be relied on because of the flood of imported products.
01:59According to Bob, there are many aspects that cause PHK to fluctuate.
02:02One of them is the increase in minimum wage, which is considered to add pressure on entrepreneurs.
02:07In the last 10 years, he claims that the minimum wage has increased by around 7% per year, while the inflation rate is only 4%.
02:14This makes the labor cost more expensive for the company, so it chooses to do PHK.
02:23The President of the Association of Indonesian Labor Unions, Mira Sumirat, stated that the mass PHK wave has actually happened in recent years, especially during the pandemic.
02:33Only now, Mira advises the Indonesian manufacturing company that is struggling because the demand for the market continues to decline since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
02:42He argued that this condition is getting worse as a result of the law No. 6 of 2023 on the creation of jobs.
02:49The reason is that the law on the creation of jobs allows companies to terminate their employment contract easily and cheaply.
02:57Mira advises entrepreneurs that the increase in minimum wage is causing companies to do PHK.
03:03Because the law on the creation of jobs tends to pressure workers by abolishing the sectoral minimum wage,
03:09changing the minimum wage formula so that it is no longer based on living standards,
03:13as well as allowing the use of contract workers and outsourcing without the limitation of the type of job.
03:18The law also introduces a flexible hourly and working hours system that risks reducing the total income of workers.
03:25Mira estimates that the PHK wave has not subsided in recent times,
03:28because so far there has been no significant policy from the Prabowo presidential government that directly contributes to the mass PHK.
03:40The economist Zulfian Shafrian calls the weakening of people's purchasing power to be the main factor causing the PHK wave to continue to grow.
03:48He said that this is exacerbated by the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over,
03:53with many sectors that have not returned to the pre-pandemic position.
03:56In addition, Zulfian argued that companies that during the pandemic reduced their workforce,
04:01did not immediately increase the number of workers even though the economy began to recover.
04:05Many companies have adapted after the pandemic,
04:08so that the needs of workers and creators of jobs are increasingly limited.
04:15He estimates that many people are finally dependent on debt to meet their needs.
04:21Finally, consumer debt has increased, while real estate gains or even decreased.
04:26This is what makes people's purchasing power weak because people are reducing shopping, especially non-essential goods.
04:34Minister of Industry Agung Bumiwang Kartasasmita claims that the dynamic of the global pre-economy condition
04:39is the main contributor to the problem of the Indonesian manufacturing industry.
04:43According to him, the PHK wave has been caused by various factors,
04:48such as a decrease in demand for export markets, factory management errors,
04:51and a change in the business strategy of domestic companies that want to bring production businesses closer to the international market.
04:57In addition, there is an increase in industrial actors in adopting technology, so it is competitive.
05:05According to the politician Sparta Golkar, most of the factory closures
05:09occurred as a result of a decline in domestic demand caused by the flood of imported products in the domestic market,
05:14weakening the purchasing power of the domestic community, and the scarcity of raw materials.
05:18Nevertheless, Agus states that the Ministry of Industry will continue to try to increase new investments in the manufacturing sector.
05:25The purpose is to push the emergence of a new industry to start production so that it can absorb more new labor
05:31and become an alternative job for workers affected by PHK.
05:37The purpose is to push the emergence of a new industry to start production so that it can absorb more new labor
05:43and become an alternative job for workers affected by PHK.