Surrounded by a sea of people inside a multi-purpose hall at the Batamindo industrial complex in Batam, Riau Islands, Petrus had to push his way to move forward and submit his job application at the registration desk.

Having been jobless for the past five months, the 25-year-old had to compete with more than 3,000 people for 80 machine-operator jobs offered by manufacturing company PT Sumitomo Wiring System Batam.

'€œI used to work for a local electronics company before my contract was terminated,'€ Petrus said on Tuesday. '€œI hope such work experience will help me secure a job.'€

The tight competition among job seekers in Batam has become much tighter this year as the global economic slowdown has made its impact on the export-oriented industrial region, which was initially developed to take advantage of the spillover from Singapore'€™s economic development.

According to the Batam Manpower Agency, 4,831 workers from 11 companies in Batam lost their jobs last year after their respective employers shut down their operations.

Data from the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BPK FTZ), meanwhile, showed that only 113 new jobs were offered in the city in January.

It has become commonplace for the offer of even a small number of jobs to attract a massive number of applicants.

Batamindo general affairs manager Tjaw Hioeng said the city'€™s largest industrial complex was usually visited by no more than 800 people daily looking for vacancies.

Tuesday'€™s recruitment event, however, was extraordinary, he said, as the compound management had to move the event from the recruiter'€™s office to a larger venue to accommodate more than 3,000 applicants.

'€œThis situation is both sad and unexpected,'€ Hioeng said.

Looking at the high unemployment figures, employers in Batam have also called on local labor unions not to stage violent rallies to prevent more investors from leaving the city.

'€œWhat happened at PT Sumitomo'€™s recruitment is a sign of the real investment situation in Batam,'€ said Cahya the chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association'€™s (Apindo) Riau Islands office.

'€œWe have to be cautious.'€

Batam refers to both an island and a municipality in Riau Islands. The Batam metropolitan area consists of three main islands '€” Batam, Rempang and Galang '€” all connected by the 642-meter Barelang Bridge.

Home to more than 1 million people, Batam is also the third-largest city in Sumatra after Medan in North Sumatra and Palembang in South Sumatra.

The city is also notorious for labor rallies as workers usually stage large-scale rallies at year-end when the government sets the new minimum wage.

Data at the BPK FTZ show that the city currently has 330,592 formal workers. They work in over 900 companies that account for a combined foreign investment of US$8.27 billion.

Separately, Batam Manpower Agency head Zarefriadi said the number of job seekers could not be used as an indication of unemployment rates in Batam.

He claimed that the number of job seekers in Batam currently stood at around 20,000.

'€œBut many of them are actually employed. We do not know about it because they have not reported it to us,'€ he said.

Zarefriadi, may have a point, as unemployed people like Petrus find themselves competing with those seeking better employment.

Agus Widodo, 21, another applicant at PT Sumitomo, said he had been working for a Padang restaurant in Batam but instead tried to apply for a job with a better salary.

'€œI earn Rp 1.5 million [US$110] every month from working at the restaurant,'€ he said.

'€œIf the company can offer a better salary, I will definitely try to secure the job.'€

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