“There’s no more budget for client entertainment: no lunch, no coffee, no birthday cake, no flowers,” said Rita, who requested anonymity. “A lot of rotations are happening with unfavorable positions. Maybe the expectation is that staff will resign?”

Tony, a 30-something employee of a local bank controlled by a foreign lender, plans to quit, but he says the decision is not based on cost-cutting measures by the employer but on considerations for personal growth.

“Cost-cutting efforts have been going on for two years,” said Tony, who asked to remain anonymous. He mentioned limitations on business trips and online meetings to cut back on spending for out-of-office meetings.

Banks around the world, led by Europe, have announced cuts of some 50,000 jobs, but laying off staff is costly in Indonesia, and high margins are keeping Indonesia attractive for business growth, according to multinational lenders and economists contacted by The Jakarta Post.

International banks are not the only ones tightening their belts. Local private lender Bank Central Asia (BCA), the country’s biggest bank by market value, was pushing efforts to reduce costs, mostly through the use of digital technology, vice president director Suwignyo Budiman told the Post.

Read also: Deutsche Bank axes whole teams in Asia-Pacific as 18,000 global job cuts begin

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia