Boyolali Faces Labour Shortages Amidst Rife Layoff Rumours

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Amidst rife reports of impending lay-offs as the result of the global economic slowdown, some areas are actually facing a significant shortage of workers - Boyolali, for instance, is scrambling to find 15,000 new workers to keep its' economy afloat.

"This is especially true for the garment manufacturing sector - we need people who can operate sewing machines," said the Head of Boyolali's Social, Manpower, and Transmigration Agency, Purwanto, on Wednesday, February 10, 2016.

Purwanto said that the actual impact of the global economic slowdown has yet to manifest in layoffs across companies based in Boyolali, before adding that he has yet to receive any information from companies of planned lay-offs. "Instead, our garment manufacturing sector is finding it hard to find competent workers," Purwanto said.

According to Purwanto, there are around 600 companies based in Boyolali that are still actively operating. Information from the Investment and Licensing Services Agency, there are 37,794 workers within Boyolali's workforce - an increase of 85 percent compared to the number of workers in 2011.

Despite the global economic slowdown, continued Purwanto, investors are still flocking to Boyolali to establish a variety of companies across several sectors. "These companies are especially interested in establishing bases within our city's limits - but we have directed them to focus towards the north of Boyolali, such as the district of Tempel, which has a lot a empty lots and plenty of workforces," Purwanto said.

The reason for the high demand for workers in Boyolali is ECO Smart Garment Indonesia (ESGI), a producer of ready-to-wear clothing apparel, whose products are entirely exported to a number of countries across Asia, Europe, and the US. The subsidiary of PT Pan Brothers has four manufacturing plant across the districts of Sambi and Klego, which began their operations in August 2015.

"We aim to employ 12,000 workers - but we have only managed to absorb 9,000 workers," said ESGI Human Resource Manager, Nurdin Setiawan. "We still need to find some 3,000 workers."

PT PAN Brothers, along with two of its' other subsidiaries, have a total of five manufacturing plant, which the companies had built back in 2011 - and all of these plants still need 2,500 workers to meet its' production targets. "In Sragen regency, one of our other subsidiary also still needs 200 employees," continued Setiawan.

According to the Head of Industrial Relations and Manpower Monitoring for Boyolali's Social, Manpower, and Transmigration Agency, Jaka Santosa, no company in Boyolali has unpaid dues to its' workers, and that all companies that the Agency keeps an eye on, have managed to pay its' workers their minimum salary, which in 2016 has been set at Rp 1,403,500.

"We are still mapping the conditions in Boyolali," said Jaka. "Once we have a comprehensive information about the area's economy, we are sure that we will be able to predict and anticipate layoffs due to the global economic slowdown."

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