Bekasi – The Bekasi branch of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) announced Tuesday it had received reports from 15 companies about their plans to lay off a total of 30,000 employees this year in a bid to streamline operations.

"They are mainly food and beverages companies," Apindo head Purnomo Narmiadi was quoted as saying Tuesday by news portal tempointeraktif.com.

Purnomo said the 15 companies would dismiss workers gradually, starting in February and running until the end of the year.

Narmiadi said factors that forced the companies to restructure their workforce included the rising cost of production, the increasing number of imported products from China and the increase in the regional minimum wage set by the local administration.

Narmiadi refused to name the companies. According to Apindo's data, Bekasi municipality hosts 800 companies that employ around 150,000 workers.