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Massive layoffs loom due to COVID-19
The ILO also estimates that between 8.8 and 35 million additional people will be in working poverty worldwide as "the strain on incomes resulting from the decline in economic activity will devastate workers close to or below the poverty line”.
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It’s oh so quiet: A mall in Senayan, Central Jakarta, is relatively light of visitors as retail businesses face the effects of COVID-19. The pandemic is putting the resilience the economy to test. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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labor leader has called on the government and companies to promptly take measures to avoid widespread layoffs as COVID-19 threatens workers' welfare.
Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) president Said Iqbal suggested last Friday an alternating shift system or partial dismissal in a bid to keep production running without laying off workers. In the case of a partial lockdown, he also urged employers to send their employees home without cutting their salaries.
"We know that the coronavirus pandemic situation is very difficult. But the government and employers must act decisively and responsibly to provide protection for workers," Said said in a press statement.
Said's concern echoes global worries that COVID-19 will cause mass job losses as it adversely affects businesses. Almost 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide as a result of COVID-19, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated in a recent report.
The ILO also estimates that between 8.8 and 35 million additional people will be in working poverty worldwide as "the strain on incomes resulting from the decline in economic activity will devastate workers close to or below the poverty line”. This contrasts their original estimate for 2020 that projected a decline of 14 million worldwide.
The preliminary assessment note titled "COVID-19 and the world of work: Impacts and responses" recommended several "large-scale and coordinated" measures, including extending social protection and supporting employment retention -- short-time work, paid leave and other subsidies -- as well as financial and tax relief, among other suggestions.
“This is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labor market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people,” said ILO director general Guy Ryder as quoted in an ILO article on its official website.
