Recession Threat, Don't Let Batam Hit by 'Tsunami' Layoffs

Recession Threat, Don

Workers during the mayday commemoration action in Batam Center. (Photo: Batamnews Doc.)

Batam, Batamnews: The threat of a global recession in 2023 is predicted to impact industries and workers in Batam City, Riau Islands. Starting from the risk of layoffs to a company collapse.

Chairman of the Consulate branch of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI), Yapet Ramon, worries about the global recession. Several labor unions have even expressed their aspirations to reject layoffs based on the global recession.

"Labourers or workers during the 2-year pandemic have struggled, working to support the nation's economy. The increase in fuel prices affects the cost of living, such as rising transportation costs, rising food costs, and housing costs," he said Monday (24/10/2022).

In terms of economic growth, in the third quarter of the Riau Islands, it is around 5 percent, and the inflation rate is around 6 to 7 percent.

"We should be optimistic that Indonesia, especially the Riau Islands and Batam, will not have a significant impact on the global recession in 2023," Ramon said.

Batam Economic Observer Rafki Rasyid said Riau Islands, especially in Batam, is also facing the threat of labor reduction, which is feared to trigger a wave of massive layoffs.

The reason is products from Batam are export-oriented to the global market. So when the global market is experiencing a slowdown in demand due to economic recession, companies in Batam will feel more impact than companies in other regions that can still sell their products to the Indonesian market. 

"So we hope that the government has thought of steps to anticipate this wave of mass layoffs by providing various incentives to entrepreneurs in the Riau Islands and Batam so that they do not close due to the global recession. The incentives can be in the form of fiscal or non-fiscal incentives," he said.

The Chairman of Apindo Batam added that the banks should also have thought of steps to facilitate businesses in Batam and the Riau Islands in making credit installment payments if a global economic recession occurs later. 

For this reason, Rafki hopes there will be close cooperation between relevant stakeholders, from the government, businessmen, and banks, to workers or laborers, to keep companies in Batam and the Riau Islands from being seriously affected by the global recession.

"By uniting, of course, the big storm that will come soon will be faced together. We hope that the threat of a wave of layoffs will not occur in the Riau Islands or Batam that we love," he concluded.


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