The program itself is (meant) to prevent layoffs and improve workers' economic resilience so that the chronic poverty rate does not increase.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) said it is promoting the wage subsidy program (BSU) this year among local government officers in areas with level 3 and 4 community activity restrictions (PPKM).



"The wage subsidy program is not a new program because it has been implemented in the previous year. It is only that for this year's subsidy, there is a little difference," director general of industrial relations and social security development of labor, Indah Anggoro Putri, said in a statement here on Saturday.



Virtual activities involving the heads of manpower offices of PPKM level 3 and 4 regions were carried out on Friday to ensure the success of the BSU program, she added.



"The PPKM makes it a different situation. We are mainly focusing on inputs from several parties on last year's BSU implementation. We hope that this year's program will run more orderly and more accountable, with more accurate BSU recipients," Putri remarked.



She said she has asked the heads of manpower offices to collaborate and be passionate about implementing this year's BSU. Support and teamwork are very important for the smooth execution of BSU, she added.



"Manpower office heads' role is to ensure that PPKM-affected workers, such as in transport, hotels, restaurants, and retail sectors, are properly covered by the subsidy," she stressed.



According to Putri, Minister of Manpower, Ida Fauziyah, is very concerned about the wage subsidy program.


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"The program itself is (meant) to prevent layoffs and improve workers' economic resilience so that the chronic poverty rate does not increase," she said.



The Ministry of Manpower has launched four National Economic Recovery (PEN) programs since 2020 that directly address labor issues in Indonesia, she pointed out.



The first program is BSU, which has been offered to 12.2 million people, next is the issuance of pre-employment cards to 5.5 million people, the third is productive aid for 12 million micro-enterprises, while the fourth pertains to labor-intensive programs in ministries targeted at 2.6 million people, she said.

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To address the impact of COVID-19, the ministry also launched several other programs in 2020, such as vocational training for 121 thousand people, training to boost productivity for 11 thousand workers, and competency certification for nearly 750 thousand workers, she added.



Other programs comprised entrepreneurship, labor-intensive, and business incubation programs, which saw participation from 322 thousand people, she informed.



"We should really focus on BSU as one of the stimulus instruments. The program should reach the target recipients and be right on its benefits to prevent layoffs, improve the economic resilience of workers, so the poverty rate will not rise," Putri remarked.


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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Kenzu T
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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