Anastasya Lavenia Yudi, Jakarta – Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), Eisha Maghfiruha Rachbini, assessed the post-COVID-19 pandemic economic growth of around 5 percent as deceptive. This is because this growth is not accompanied by an increase in real wages for workers.
"It's somewhat contradictory; on one hand, there's a 5 percent economic growth, but real wages, the income received by workers, are not increasing," said Eisha during an online seminar entitled Reshuffle Meyembuhkan Ekonomi? (Will Reshuffling Heal the Economy?) organized by Paramadina University on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) processed by Indef, post-pandemic real wage growth is only around 2 percent.
According to Eisha, the stagnation of real wage growth is due to deindustrialization. She stated that the government has not made specific efforts to foster the manufacturing sector that supports industry. As a result, the contribution of the manufacturing sector continues to decline. According to BPS data, in the second quarter of 2025, the manufacturing industry contributed only 18.67 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, Eisha mentioned that previously, the contribution of the manufacturing industry could reach more than 20 percent.
Eisha views this deindustrialization as driving a shift in the labor force structure to the informal sector. "This informal sector then creates instability in providing a decent living or job for workers," she said.
The lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Management, IPB University, also hopes that Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa can evaluate fiscal policies to provide stimulus for job creation. "The priority of fiscal policy should be directed towards programs that stimulate economic growth and improve the welfare of the population," said Eisha.