Survey: 9 in Every 10 Companies in Indonesia Incur Losses due to Pandemic

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – About 88 percent of companies in Indonesia suffered losses in the last six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey of the Manpower Ministry showed.
The survey stated that nine out of 10 companies in the country were directly affected by the coronavirus crisis.

“These losses are generally caused by decreased sales, therefore their production must be reduced,” said Bambang Satrio Lelono, Manpower Planning and Development Agency head at the Ministry of Manpower, in a statement on Tuesday, November 24.

Based on the survey conducted by the Manpower Ministry in collaboration with the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), the decline in demand has reached more than 90 percent.

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The companies that were most affected include the food and beverage industry, real estate, and construction. However, most companies still keep their employees.

The survey said only 17.8 percent of businesses resorted to layoffs, 25.6 percent imposed unpaid leave, and 10 percent implemented both.

“This is the only way for the companies to carry out efficiency amid the pandemic,” said Bambang.

Bambang went on to say that after the pandemic the most in-demand technical skills highlighted in the survey were information and communication technology and industrial technology for product diversification.

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To cater to this, he said, both the government and private sector need to provide education and training programs in the technology sector.

“After the pandemic, work from home will likely be the main choice for companies,” he said, adding that even though reducing the number of workers and salary cuts are inevitable.

(Writer: Elsa Catriana | Editor: Bambang P. Jatmiko)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/11/24/185926126/survei-kemnaker-88-persen-perusahaan-terdampak-pandemi-covid-19.