JAKARTA: There is a growing fear among female workers in Indonesia's capital Jakarta that the government's move to increase the minimum wage 44 percent will lead to many women being laid off work as a result. “I am really worried that I won't have a job because my boss will choose to keep the male employees instead of us women after the new wages come into play,” Sahar Mohammad, a factory worker in the capital, told Bikyamasr.com on Wednesday. For her and other women, they believe that as companies attempt to cut costs and meet the new minimum wage standards established in the country, it will mean they could lose their current positions. “Women are not seen as vital to the workforce in Indonesia because men are supposed to be the one's bringing home the money, so if they have to let people go, it will be the women,” she added. The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has warned that a 44 percent increase in the Jakarta minimum wage to come into affect next year, could see companies lay-off staff to cut costs. Employer groups have also expressed fears the new Jakarta minimum wage of Rp 2.2 million ($228) a month, approved by Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Tuesday, would prompt similar pushes for wage increases across the country. “The government forgets that by making a populist decision, employers will suffer losses. The consequence is that the employers will massively cut back employment,” Apindo chairman Sofjan Wanandi was qouted by the English daily The Jakarta Globe. Sofjan said Jakarta's manufacturing industry employed more than three million workers in factories, making shoes, clothes and other household goods. The textile and garment industry alone employed 2.5 million people while shoe manufacturers hired 500,000 workers, he said. “Take pity on (small business owners), the shoe and garment industry (and) all labor-intensive (industries). “They cannot afford this wage hike. Salaries are already 30 percent of the costs. With electricity and gas price hikes, how can we compete next year?” he asked. Under previous regulations, Jakarta's workers earned a minimum Rp 1.5 million a month. The new minimum wage is Rp220,000 more than the amount sought by Apindo, but Rp590,000 less than the amount sought by labor unions. Meanwhile, an economist from Padjajaran University in Bandung, Kodrat Wibowo, said workers' demands for higher wages should match an increase in productivity, given Indonesian productivity lagging behind that of neighboring countries. International Labor Organization (ILO) data from 2010 shows that Indonesia's labor productivity – measured in annual gross domestic product per working person – was $10,587, as compared to $25,058 in Malaysia and $12,593 in China. Kodrat said Indonesian labor productivity was lower than others in the region, not because of a lack of education or lack of training but due to “poor work ethics.” For women in the city, they fear that their future with their current employers is to become tenuous as the new year approaches and their future is in jeopardy.
