JobStreet: Job Seekers Doubled During the Coronavirus Pandemic

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Job search website JobStreet revealed on Monday that the number of job seekers have increased considerably amidst the coronavirus pandemic as its country manager Faridah Lim said the increase of job seekers have doubled in numbers compared to a normal situation.

Website traffic, she said, also grew by 11 percent, amounting to 300 million visits each month from April to June this year due to many reports of layoffs that can be tracked down to corporate efficiencies caused by a weakening economy.

The fierce economic effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic is expected to leave up to 5 million people to be unemployed by the end of this year. 

“One job opening is usually applied by 400 people but now can see 800 applicants. For some positions it can reach the thousands,” said Faridah Lim to Tempo on Monday, October 26. 

The rise in job seekers is not balanced by the growing job openings as Farida said from April - May the number of jobs available had slumped by 8,000 job vacancies where it could reach 30,000 job vacancies during a normal non-pandemic period. 

However, the JobStreet country manager said the situation is gradually improving parallel to the slackened large-scale social restriction (PSBB) policy and that job vacancies have reached 20,000 in September. 

Employers that still actively search for new applicants, said Farida, come from industries of customer services, administrative work, and human resources. “It is generally generic jobs, but we have seen a shift in the candidate’s capabilities that are being sought for,” said Farida Lim.

Also Read: Jakarta Set to Reimpose Full-on PSBB to Suppress Covid-19 Infection

GHOIDA RAHMAH