"Companies might have planned to lay off their workers as they are unable to compete with their counterparts from South Korea and China," Darmin stated.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Companies might have planned to lay off their workers as they are unable to compete in the market, according to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution.

"Companies might have planned to lay off their workers as they are unable to compete with their counterparts from South Korea and China," Darmin stated after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla here on Thursday to discuss efforts to reduce poverty.

Several Korean and Japanese electronics companies are reported to have planned to shut down their factories in Indonesia.

However, Darmin refused to claim that there will be massive layoffs, affirming that these companies might have planned to close their factories not because they do not intend to invest in Indonesia but are, in fact, losing to competition from other companies.

The Indonesian Workers Union Federation recorded that the number of workers affected by the layoffs reached 1,700 at PT Panasonic, 970 at PT Toshiba, one thousand at Panasonic Lighting Cikarang Bekasi, 1,200 at PT Samoin, and five hundred at PT Starlink.

Executive Secretary of the National Poverty Eradication Acceleration Team (TNP2K) Bambang Widianto emphasized the need to attract new investors to overcome the layoff problem.

"This is something usual as technology is changing. Those affected by the layoffs must seek employment in other companies. Therefore, new investment is needed," he pointed out.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016