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Employees expendable as start-ups scramble for market dominance
For hundreds of employees of homegrown unicorn Bukalapak, collective paranoia over job security turned into a bitter reality as the e-commerce company failed to renew their contracts.
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Start-up employees work at the Innovation Room, an incubator space for start-ups provided by the Manpower Ministry. (JP/Rainier Nathaniel )
I
n the bustling office of a start-up housed in a busy building in Jakarta’s business district sits Nina (not her real name) in between meetings and conference calls. Her mind wanders aimlessly to her office’s team of 50 people that has witnessed two colleagues being laid off in half a year, while a few others have not had their contracts extended.
That’s not an ideal employment environment for 36-year-old Nina, who has asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, as she financially supports her family in East Java. Financial stability is of utmost importance to her, but looking at her industry—the flourishing apps business and digital economy—she has come to accept that she’ll not stick around for a long time at her office.
“It’s an unspoken public secret. Layoffs and nonrenewal of employment contracts are common in the start-up world,” said Nina, who joined the company late last year and was instantly jolted by how workers’ contracts were easily terminated or not renewed.
“It’s so easy to replace you. Many people out there are longing for a ‘start-up job’,” she added.
Nina is among scores of contract-based start-up employees who are constantly haunted by the thought of being laid off at any moment in the face of cutthroat competition. As start-ups tend to change their business strategies on a dime to play catch-up with the dynamic market, human resources have become increasingly expendable.
For hundreds of employees at homegrown unicorn Bukalapak, collective paranoia over job security turned into a bitter reality as the e-commerce company failed to renew their contracts.
“As we further develop our technology to meet our customers’ needs, we feel the need for an internal reorganization to adjust to industry dynamics,” Bukalapak chief strategy officer Teddy Oetomo said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the company was aiming to reap its first profit within the next five years.
