TEMPO.CO, Bekasi - The Bekasi Regency administration has restricted companies in Bekasi from recruiting non-local employees due to the concerns over post-Eid urbanization. Robert Suwandi, the head of Job Opportunities Expansion and Transmigration Division at the Bekasi Manpower and Transmigration Agency, said yesterday that the policy was aimed at anticipating unemployment rate and prioritizing jobs for Bekasi residents.
Robert said many companies had been reluctant to employ local residents despite a regulation governing the local and regional recruitments set forth in the Presidential Decree Number 4/1980. The decree states any company employing non-local workers shall return them to their hometowns after the contract expires.
In 2012, the Manpower Agency recorded 35,934 workers in Bekasi and 14,730 job openings, with 9,340 people filling the positions. Meanwhile in 2013, the agency recorded 28,350 jobseekers competing to fill 17,171 job vacancies.
This year, the local government is collaborating with seven industrial areas, in which 3,700 companies are operating. The number of jobseekers has reached more than 30,000, and is expected to distribute 60 percent of the amount.
ADI WARSONO
