Employers predict that layoffs in the textile sector will continue into the next year, despite political agendas scheduled for the upcoming year.

Redma Gita Wirawasta, the General Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Yarn and Filament Producers (APSyFI), states that the layoff trend follows the performance of the textile sector. This means that when the textile sector is thriving, the layoff trend will naturally cease, and vice versa.

"Yes, until next year, we also estimate that the growth trend in the fourth quarter of 2023 will still be negative," Redma said when contacted by kumparan on Monday (13/11).

Redma previously mentioned that the sector has not received significant demand for the next year, so they cannot expect much growth in the textile sector.

Redma mentions that currently, players in the textile and textile product (TPT) industry are still actively cutting jobs to maintain their businesses. Every week, workers are being furloughed.

"Layoffs continue to occur every week, with hundreds of thousands of workers still on furlough," Redma revealed.

However, Redma does not specify which companies are carrying out layoffs and furloughing employees.

In the midst of these challenging conditions, Redma reveals that the utilization of the TPT sector is still below 50 percent as of mid-2023. Export markets such as the United States and Europe are also affected by unresolved geopolitical tensions.

Meanwhile, Redma states that the domestic textile sector is still overshadowed by the flood of imported products, making layoffs in that sector difficult to avoid.

Previously, the Secretary of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), Danang Girindrawardana, explained that in the middle of this year, the TPT and garment industries were still under pressure due to a 50 percent decline in export demand.

"We are still facing a situation of decreased export demand from America or Europe that has not yet recovered. And until now, the reduction in exports is approaching 50 percent. This is exacerbated by the onslaught of imported goods entering Indonesia," said Danang when met at the Hotel Borobudur, Jakarta, on Wednesday (21/6).

At that time, Danang mentioned that there would be five companies that would rationalize their workforce, including layoffs involving around 12,000 workers.

"Internally, we have discussions with about five more companies that will rationalize it in the third quarter of this year, until August-September. If quantified, the number could be around 12,000 workers," said Danang.