By: Ferri Alfian )*
The government through the Ministry of Manpower has formed a Termination of Employment Task Force (Satgas PHK) as a rapid response to the increasing wave of mass layoffs that have occurred in a number of industrial sectors. The formation of this Task Force is part of the government’s strategic mitigation steps to ensure that the socio-economic impact of layoffs can be minimized. The unstable global economic conditions, coupled with the continued impact of post-pandemic disruption and rapid technological changes, have caused many companies to have to make efficiencies, including laying off most of their workforce.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said that the Layoff Task Force was formed not only to record layoff data, but also to have a proactive function in prevention, handling, and mediation between workers and companies. This step is important to ensure that workers’ rights remain protected, while maintaining the stability of the business world so that they do not get caught up in prolonged conflict. This task force consists of cross-ministerial elements, business associations, labor unions, and worker protection institutions so that it can carry out its functions holistically and representatively.
The latest data released by the Ministry of Manpower, throughout the first quarter of 2025, recorded more than 92,000 workers affected by layoffs from various sectors, especially manufacturing, textiles, information technology, and financial services. This trend shows the urgency for the presence of a more responsive state intervention mechanism. Therefore, the Layoff Task Force is also tasked with compiling a layoff risk map based on sectoral and regional data, so that the policies issued are more targeted and adaptive to real conditions in the field.
The Director General of Industrial Relations and Social Security for Workers at the Ministry of Manpower, Indah Anggoro Putri, revealed that the maturation of the foundation and function of the Layoff Task Force is being carried out in parallel according to the direction of President Prabowo Subianto. This discussion involves various ministries, including the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Trade.
The mitigation steps taken by the Task Force include strengthening retraining services (reskilling and upskilling), facilitating new job placements, opening access to entrepreneurship programs, and distributing transitional social assistance. The Task Force also provides a digital complaint channel for workers who experience unilateral or non-regulation layoffs. This step is expected to create a fairer, more responsive, and social justice-based employment ecosystem.
The Expert Council of the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo), Danang Girindrawardana, said that his party agreed with the formation of the Layoff Task Force because this step is believed to be able to reduce the number of layoffs while strengthening the resilience of the domestic market. With the Task Force, the potential for layoffs can be reduced through mediation efforts, retraining of workers, and facilitating the reabsorption of workers into sectors that are still developing. Strengthening the domestic market is very important amidst global economic uncertainty, so collaboration between the government, business world, and workers is key to maintaining the stability of the national industry.
The Task Force also provides preventive policy recommendations to companies. One of the proposed approaches is strengthening work flexibility schemes, such as part-time work or shift rotation, as an alternative to layoffs. With this strategy, companies can still adjust their workload without having to permanently lay off their employees. The Task Force also emphasized the importance of open communication between management and workers, so that difficult decisions such as layoffs do not become a source of prolonged horizontal conflict.
From the worker side, the Task Force encourages increased awareness of the importance of relevant competencies in the digital era and industrial transformation. Through collaboration with the Job Training Center (BLK), vocational education institutions, and online training platforms, workers affected by layoffs are given the opportunity to improve new skills needed by the job market. The government is also collaborating with industry partners to open priority job vacancies for workers who have completed the training, so that the transition process can run faster and more productively.
Strengthening the role of the Layoff Task Force has also received appreciation from various parties. The presence of the Task Force is a positive signal of the state’s commitment to the fate of workers. So far, many workers do not know the legal protection channels when they are laid off, and the Task Force can be a bridge of solutions between companies and workers.
With the background of increasingly complex employment challenges, the Layoff Task Force is a real test of the state’s commitment to workers as a pillar of national developmentonal.
In the midst of global pressure, collective efforts between the government, business world, and civil society are urgently needed so that the ongoing economic transition does not leave many victims in the labor sector. In the future, the role of this Task Force is expected to not only respond to the symptoms of layoffs, but also be able to become a strategic instrument in forming a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable national employment system.
The formation of the Layoff Task Force is a strategic step by the government in dealing with the increasing wave of layoffs in various industrial sectors. With a collaborative and responsive approach, the Task Force not only plays a role as a crisis handler, but also as a bridge for long-term solutions between the business world and workers. Through preventive efforts, retraining, and job placement facilitation, the Task Force is expected to be able to reduce the number of layoffs, strengthen the domestic labor market, and maintain national economic stability amidst global dynamics full of uncertainty.
)* The author is a student living in Jakarta
