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Jakartans rush to join ‘orange troops’ amid job scarcity
An unprecedented crowd of hopeful jobseekers have flocked to Jakarta City Hall in the past few weeks to apply for jobs as sanitation workers, highlighting mounting concerns over unemployment and rising layoffs in the capital.
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Daily care: Sanitation workers clear away garbage from the Mampang-Kuningan underpass on Jan. 1, 2020, in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
A
n unprecedented crowd of hopeful jobseekers have flocked to Jakarta City Hall in the past few weeks to apply for jobs as sanitation workers, highlighting mounting concerns over unemployment and rising layoffs in the capital.
The Jakarta administration has allocated around 1,100 jobs in the Public Facility Maintenance Agency (PPSU) this year, and around 7,000 people have applied in just two days after the recruitment began on April 22. Another 1,000 new applications were recorded last week.
With their bright orange uniforms, sanitation workers, popularly known as the “orange troops”, are easy to recognize throughout every street, park and anywhere near water channels in Jakarta. They play major roles in cleaning and maintaining public services in the city.
The jobs require only a primary school education and basic reading and writing skills. Only registered Jakarta residents aged from 18 to 58 are eligible for the jobs.
Attracting university graduates
Despite the fact that the jobs do not require a lot of formal schooling, the recruitment drive attracts university graduates, including 37-year-old Atika Nurmalasari from Duren Sawit, East Jakarta.
On one afternoon at City Hall last week, Atika and her husband submitted the required paperwork for the same janitorial position. If hired, they will work one of three eight-hour shifts per day.
