Ruth Dea Juwita, The Manpower Ministry has logged a 32.1 percent jump in layoffs in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, mainly concentrated in the manufacturing, retail and mining industries.

A total of 42,385 workers were laid off in the six months between January and June, up from 32,064 during the same period in 2024, according to figures published on government's Satu Data portal.

While the ministry's figures do not present a complete picture of hiring and firing in the country, where the informal sector contributes a large part to national economic activity, they are watched as an indicator of employment trends in various industries.

Manpower Minister Yassierli attributed the layoff surge to multiple factors, including weaker demand, production cuts, business model shifts and internal corporate problems.

"I have been saying there are many causes of layoffs," Yassierli told reporters on Tuesday, as quoted by Kompas.com.

"That's because some industries are experiencing a market downturn, some companies have shifted their business models, and in some cases there are internal issues, including industrial relations and so on," he said.

Anwar Sanusi, head of the ministry's planning and development agency, said the sharp rise was due in part to mass layoffs at several companies at the beginning of the year.

Despite the annual increase, he noted a significant improvement in the month-to-month (mtm) figure, which logged a 65 percent decline from 4,702 workers in May to 1,609 in June.

"There may be factors related to unresolved layoff processes," Anwar added, saying the ministry was still studying the cause of the monthly drop in June.

He also noted that the manufacturing sector recorded the most job losses in the first six months of the year with 22,671 workers laid off, followed by the wholesale and retail trade sector, and then the mining and quarrying sector.

By region, the most affected by job cuts during the period were Central Java with 10,995 workers, followed by West Java with 9,494 and Banten with 4,267.

The three provinces, which are home to a dense concentration of factories and industrial zones, are among the country's key industrial centers.

West Java alone accounts for around 60 percent of the national manufacturing output. In Central Java, the manufacturing sector makes up a significant share of the provincial GDP, while Banten benefits from a cluster of heavy industries as well as Merak Port in Cilegon.

Minister Yassierli had previously considered postponing the release of monthly layoff data to avoid fueling public concern amid growing job losses and labor unrest, saying the data could dampen optimism.

Manufacturers remain downbeat about growth prospects as soft domestic demand weighs on output, purchasing and employment.

Indonesia's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped to 46.9 in June from 47.4 in May, the second-lowest reading since August 2021 after April 2025. It was also the third consecutive month that the index remained below the 50-point threshold between expansion and contraction.

The PMI report also noted that employment shrank for the second time in three months and at the sharpest pace in nearly four years as firms scaled back hiring.

Source: https://asianews.network/layoffs-surge-in-manufacturing-retail-in-indonesia-government-data-suggest