Martha Warta Silaban, Jakarta – University of Indonesia's Economy and Business Faculty Dean Teguh Dartanto in an event on Wednesday stated that Indonesian workers in the informal sector reached 59.97 percent up until February this year. He believes that such a situation poses complications.
"Our informal sector workers almost reach 60 percent and I think that this is not a good thing as there are many complications from this share," said Dartanto at an event in Jakarta touted T20 Task Force 5 on July 27.
According to him, the percentage of these workers increased from 56.64 percent prior to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic back in 2020. This number steadily grew to the current number just barely touching 60 percent in 2022.
He argues that the rise of informal sector workers is a scarring effect of the pandemic, especially after there were many people who were business employees shifted to this sector which does not provide them with sufficient legal protection as workers. That includes low-paying jobs and the limited social protections.
Additional data suggest that the pandemic has caused at least 5.4 million workers to no longer participate in the country's Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan).