TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsSanyo subsidiary closes down Batam unit amid soaring labor costs
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Sluggish business: People wait outside the production facility of PT Sanyo Energy Batam at Batamindo Industrial Park in Batam, Riau Islands, on Tuesday. The battery maker has decided to close down its business in the region, citing rising labor costs. (JP/Fadli)
L
ithium battery maker PT Sanyo Energy Batam (SEB) announced on Tuesday the closure of its production facility in Batam, Riau Islands, citing high labor expenditures that led to soaring production costs.
The closure of the production facility, located in the Batamindo Industrial Park, has also been followed by the dismissal of the company’s 684 employees.
Batamindo Industrial Park general affairs manager Tjaw Hioeng said the firm had informed the park’s management about the plan last week.
“They officially notified [us] about the closure today [Tuesday]. They’re currently cleaning up the facility.” he said, adding that the company cited rising labor costs in the region as its main reason for ceasing operations.
The minimum wage in Batam currently stands at Rp 2.9 million (US$222.4), slightly lower than that in the capital city of Jakarta, where it is Rp 3.1 million. The Batam regional administration has recently decided to increase the minimum wage by 8 percent in 2017.
SEB, a local unit of Japanese electronics giant Sanyo, opened its production facility in Batam in 1992 and has until now invested US$2 million to support its operations.
Batam Manpower Agency head Rudy Syakyakirti said the layoff process had run “smoothly”, as the management and employee representatives had previously agreed on severance packages offered to the dismissed employees.
Of the company’s 684 employees, only 110 are permanent workers, Rudy said. (hwa)
