By: Nadira Citra Maheswari*
Global economic uncertainty remains a challenge facing many countries, including Indonesia. Slowing global economic growth, shifting investment flows, accelerating technological transformation, and international geopolitical dynamics are putting pressure on the business world. These conditions can lead to decreased production activity, reduced market demand, and even increased risks of layoffs. In situations like this, mitigation measures are crucial to prevent economic turmoil from leading to the loss of people’s livelihoods.
The government demonstrated its commitment to anticipating potential layoffs by ratifying Presidential Decree (Keppres) Number 10 of 2026 concerning the Establishment of a Layoff Mitigation Task Force. President Prabowo emphasized that the formation of this task force demonstrates the state’s commitment to protecting workers while ensuring their rights, welfare, and livelihoods are maintained amidst increasingly complex economic challenges.
The presence of the Layoff Mitigation Task Force marks a shift in the government’s approach, prioritizing prevention over simply responding to layoffs. Through cross-ministerial coordination, the government strives to detect companies or business sectors facing pressure early so that solutions can be formulated before the situation escalates into a wave of layoffs. This preventative approach provides space for the government, businesses, and workers to find solutions together through dialogue, policy adjustments, and support for business continuity.
In the context of national development, the workforce is one of the most strategic assets for the nation’s progress. Worker productivity is the foundation of economic growth, while job security plays a crucial role in maintaining purchasing power and social stability. Therefore, various government policies that encourage investment, strengthen the industrial sector, and create a conducive business climate are essentially aimed at maintaining employment opportunities while creating new ones.
Said Iqbal, Special Advisor to the President for Manpower and Worker Welfare, explained that the government continues to implement various mitigation measures to prevent further widespread layoffs in the industrial sector. The government is actively mapping companies facing pressure so that various rescue measures can be implemented as early as possible. These efforts demonstrate that worker protection is a crucial part of the national development agenda.
Said Iqbal also emphasized that the challenges currently facing the business world stem from a combination of factors. Geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, weakening purchasing power, fluctuations in the rupiah exchange rate, and the relocation of investment to several countries are all pressures affecting industrial performance. These conditions demonstrate that the threat of layoffs cannot be reduced to a single issue, but rather is the accumulation of various interconnected global and domestic economic dynamics.
Therefore, resolving them requires comprehensive policies. The government should not only focus on protecting workers but also strengthen the economic foundations by increasing industrial competitiveness, improving the investment climate, refining labor regulations, and strengthening cross-sector coordination. This integrated approach is expected to maintain stable industrial relations while increasing business confidence to continue investing and expanding production activities.
A similar view was expressed by Komaidi Notonegoro, Executive Director of the ReforMiner Institute, who believes that gas prices are only one component of the industrial production cost structure. He believes that neither the weakening competitiveness nor the increasing threat of layoffs can be explained by a single factor. Strengthening the industrial sector requires a more comprehensive strategy, ranging from maintaining market demand, increasing supply chain efficiency, ensuring raw material availability, and creating investment certainty.
This demonstrates that business sustainability and labor protection are interrelated. A healthy industry will be able to retain its workforce, while productive workers will strengthen industrial competitiveness. Therefore, government policies need to continue to be directed at creating a healthy business ecosystem while providing certainty for workers.
In addition to strengthening the industrial sector, the government also continues to encourage improvements in human resource quality through various competency development programs. Digital transformation, automation, and changing industrial needs require the workforce to have increasingly adaptive skills. This competency improvement is
It is a long-term investment to ensure Indonesian workers are competitive, increase productivity, and have a greater chance of remaining absorbed in the job market.
Meanwhile, strengthening the social protection system remains a crucial part of the layoff mitigation strategy. Various protection schemes serve as a safety net for affected workers while maintaining public purchasing power. When household consumption remains strong, the economy can continue to move, resulting in a faster and more sustainable economic recovery.
Through the establishment of the Layoff Mitigation Task Force and various other supporting policies, the government demonstrates that worker protection is not only achieved through assistance during a crisis, but also through systematic preventative measures. This approach, which prioritizes coordination, collaboration, and early anticipation, is concrete evidence of the government’s role in maintaining a balance between economic growth, business continuity, and protecting the well-being of Indonesian workers.
*) The author is a Content Writer at Galaswara Digital Bureau