The upcoming Hari Raya – or Lebaran as it is known here – celebrations will be less than festive for Sriyono, 52, who, like many Indonesians, only goes by one name.
He is one of the more than 10,000 workers at textile manufacturer PT Sri Rejeki Isman, popularly known as Sritex, who lost their jobs last month after the company lost its court appeal against bankruptcy.
“I still can’t believe this... I didn’t change companies because it feels like family here. I feel so sad, I am speechless,” he said over the phone.
He had worked at the company’s factory in Solo, Central Java, for 33 years, serving refreshments to foreign buyers who visited the plant.
The closure of Sritex, once South-East Asia’s largest textile manufacturer, comes after a wave of shutdowns in at least 60 other textile and garment manufacturers across Indonesia between January 2023 and December 2024, according to the Indonesian Fibre and Filament Yarn Producers Association.
It also follows closures of other large manufacturing companies in Indonesia in early 2025 – such as piano-maker Yamaha Music, Sanken Electronic, which produces electric components, and Danbi International, which produces fake eyelashes – that have resulted in thousands of job losses.
Some 60,000 workers from 50 companies lost their jobs in January and February, according to the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation in a media statement on March 15.
And more layoffs are in store for the year.
Indonesia’s Centre for Research at the Parliamentary Expertise Agency estimates that 280,000 workers will be laid off in 2025, making it the highest annual number since the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw 3.6 million people lose their jobs in 2020.
Analysts said that these job losses arise from the government’s failure to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Centre of Economic and Law Studies think-tank, said: “The government is busier attracting new investments rather than maintaining existing industries.”
Recently, the government announced special discounts for the Ramadan fasting month and Hari Raya holidays, including lower-priced flight tickets, reduced toll fees and shopping rebates.
It also earmarked 50 trillion rupiah for religious holiday allowances to be paid to three million civil servants, aimed at boosting purchasing power.
The government has said that the wave of layoffs is under control and that the manufacturing industry is still showing signs of growth.
At a press conference on March 5, Indonesia’s manpower minister, Professor Yassierli, said Sritex workers would receive some financial aid.
However, such aid may not come soon enough for Sriyono and his family of three, as he tries to stretch his last salary for the Lebaran festivities, which mark the end of the Muslim fasting month, at the end of March, and beyond.
“It is already our tradition to celebrate Lebaran; after all, it is only once a year.
“But we also have to save money. We need to make sure that the last salary we have will last till after Hari Raya,” he said. — The Straits Times/ANN
