Indonesia plans wage subsidies for workers

The policy will benefit sectors impacted by the pandemic, especially during the emergency community activities restriction (PPKM) period, said manpower minister Ida Fauziyah. 

Sectors that stand to gain include the consumption industry, trade and services. However, these will exclude education and healthcare, transportation, miscellaneous industries, property, and real estate. 

Fauziyah said the BSU programme launched on July 21 will help prevent job losses and help workers who were laid off or whose salaries were cut because of the limitation of work hours, thus suppressing unemployment and poverty rates. 

Under the BSU 2021, IDR8 trillion (US$553 million) will be allocated to 8 million people, with each beneficiary receiving IDR1 million (US$69) via bank transfer, the minister added. 

The subsidy amount is still an estimate as details are still being worked on by the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan), Fauziyah said. 

To be eligible, applicants must be Indonesian citizens, registered under the Worker Social Security Program (Jamsostek), and still active in BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. 

Since 2020, the Ministry has launched four National Economic Recovery (PEN) programmes that directly addressed labour issues in Indonesia, she said. 

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The first programme was a wage subsidy offered to 12.2 million people, the second was the pre-employment cards for 5.5 million people, the third was productive aid for micro-enterprises benefiting 12 million people, while the fourth pertained to labour intensive programmes in ministries for 2.6 million people, according to Antara.