100,000 Indonesian migrant workers face redundancy

Wasti Atmodjo and Niken Prathivi ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Kuta

Tue, 03/31/2009

As many as 100,000 Indonesian migrant workers are facing possible layoffs at the end of this year should the global economic crisis continue, said a senior government official.

Chairman of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesia Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) M Jumhur Hidayat said on Monday that a large majority of the workers facing the mass layoffs were working within the automotive and cellular phone industries.

"Meanwhile, those who work in household appliance manufacturing or plantation, as well as within informal sectors - which accounts for 65 percent of the total 4.3 million Indonesian workers in 41 countries around the globe - are rather safe *from possible redundancy*," said Hidayat on the sidelines of the International Business Meeting on Indonesian Overseas Workers in Kuta.

The number of Indonesian workers working within automotive and cellular phone industries, particularly in plants in Malaysia and South Korea, is estimated to reach around 400,000 people.

Hidayat said that earlier this year, Malaysian industries had terminated the contracts of some 10,000 Indonesian workers. The workers who were granted contract extensions will receive lower wages.

"Some *workers* have been sent home, while some others are remaining there while we try to find them new jobs," said Hidayat, adding that such layoffs were an understandable measure due to the economic crisis.

East Java's Board of Work, Placement and Protection Services for Indonesian Workers (BP3TKI) data showed that 112 out of 2,276 Indonesian overseas workers who arrived at Juanda Airport in East Java in the period January-March were recently discharged from their jobs abroad.

"We identified the fact that they had returned home because they had been discharged by their employers when we assisted them in completing the documents for insurance claims," said board chief Rahayu.

Furthermore, 1,000 workers from Tanjung Pinang and East Nusa Tenggara had also been sent home by their overseas employers.

However, the local BP3TKI offices could not identify whether their returns were the results of mass layoffs or other factors, such as immigration violations.

In response to possible dismissal of Indonesian overseas workers, BNP2TKI organized a third promotional event to introduce Indonesian worker agencies to potential headhunter agencies from Canada, the United States, Jordan and Brunei Darussalam.

"These four countries need at least 10,000 workers in manufacturing, health and hospitality services. Indonesia must see this as a good opportunity to grab, rather than *depend on* the usual Middle East and Asian countries," said deputy of overseas cooperation and promotion for BPN2TKI Ramli Saud.

Ramli added that professional jobs, such as medical nurses, could collect some US$4,000 in remuneration per month.

"The remuneration *for these jobs* is much better than for positions in informal sectors - housemaid, babysitter - which are worth $300 per month."

In order to get those high-paying jobs, Louay Alghoul from Global Employment and Immigration Agency (GEIA) of Canada asked Indonesian workers to sharpen their skills before heading to Canada.

"Possession of fluent English is a basic skill for a worker, especially for those who are aiming for professional careers, such as being a nurse. Furthermore, a worker must be skillful in any field; just be focused," Alghoul told The Jakarta Post.