Jakarta, IO – The textile and garment industry is being hit by a wave of retrenchment. To date, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs, reported CNBC Indonesia, Thursday (15/12).
Indonesian Filament Fiber and Yarn Association (Apsyfi) secretary general Redma Gita Wirawasta even predicted that up to 500,000 workers may be laid off in the first quarter of 2023.
He revealed that the downsizing may not be necessarily through layoffs as this will only cause the company to incur large costs in terms of severance payment. The methods preferred is by reducing working hours, furlough or rotation.
“Working hours may be reduced from 6 to 4 days. When furloughed, workers may only be paid 20 percent of their wage,” he said, adding that many struggling factories have stopped operations.