19 October 2025 (closed)
Jakarta Composite Index (7,915.66) -209.10 -2.57%
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Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.
Latest Reports Employment
On Sunday (5 October 2025), Indonesia Investments released the September 2025 edition of its monthly report. In this edition we discuss a selection of economic, political and social topics that were relevant for Indonesia in September 2025.
On Thursday 05 June 2025, Indonesia Investments released the May 2025 edition of its monthly report. This report discusses a selection of economic, social and political topics that were relevant in Indonesia in the month of May 2025.
Research conducted by online job-seekers community platform Jobplanet shows an increasing trend of recruitment of interns in Indonesia. In addition, the study also mentioned the five top industries in Indonesia that employ most apprentices. What are these five industries?
Indonesia's manufacturing sector is targeted to provide employment to a total of 16.3 million workers in 2017, up 5 percent from 15.5 million workers in the preceding year. As such, development of the manufacturing industry is a good strategy to reduce Indonesia's unemployment rate. Industries within the manufacturing sector of Indonesia that absorb the highest number of workers are the textile, footwear, food & beverage, and automotive industries.
The number of expat workers in Indonesia is declining due to persistently low commodity prices and the government's stricter regulations regarding the hiring of expats. In the first five months of 2016 a total of 72,399 temporary residential permits (including renewals) were issued to expats. It is highly unlikely that the number of expat workers in Indonesia this year will equal the total of 171,944 foreign workers that were active in Indonesia in 2015. Actually the number of expats working in Indonesia has already been on the decline since 2011 (when the commodity slowdown reemerged).
According to the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) the unemployment rate of Indonesia fell to 5.5 percent of the nation's labor force, or 7.02 million people in absolute terms, in February 2016 (compared to an unemployment rate of 5.81 percent one year earlier). The data from BPS also indicate that Indonesia's workforce - remarkably - shrank from 128.3 million in February 2015 to 127.8 million people in February 2016 particularly due to a decline in workers in the agriculture sector.
After having experienced 17 straight months of contraction in the manufacturing sector, the Nikkei Indonesia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey rose to a reading of 50.6 in March 2016 from 48.7 in the preceding month (a reading above 50 indicates expansion of manufacturing activity) according to a statement released on Friday (01/04). This is very positive news although Indonesia's export performance remains in a state of decline. Manufacturing expansion was primarily caused by a rise in domestic demand.
With the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) per 1 January 2016 - i.e. the community that is designed to allow the free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled labor as well as the freer flow of capital among its ten member countries - there has been concern among part of the Indonesian population whether there could occur a massive inflow of foreign workers into Indonesia hence giving rise to more competition on the domestic labor market. This column zooms in on the free flow of labor under the AEC.
Unemployment in Indonesia increased to 6.18 percent of the labour force in August 2015, or 7.56 million people in absolute terms, from 5.81 percent in February (or 7.45 million unemployed people) as the economic slowdown led to layoffs and slower absorption of the workforce. In the second quarter of 2015 Indonesia's economy grew at the slowest pace in six years at 4.67 percent (y/y) and only managed to improve slightly (4.73 percent y/y) in the third quarter.
The Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) announced on Thursday (22/10) that foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indonesia climbed 18.1 percent (year-on-year) to IDR 92.5 trillion (approx. USD $6.85 billion) in the third quarter of 2015 from the same quarter a year earlier. The Q3-2015 18.1 percentage point growth was almost the same as the 18.1 percent (y/y) increase in FDI posted in the previous quarter. FDI data from the BKPM does not include investment in the country's banking and oil & gas sectors.
Latest Columns Employment
The recovery in global palm oil prices that seemed to have started last spring, has ended. A few months ago, optimism had colored expectations of many analysts as palm oil prices went up about 10 percent between early May and mid-June, after tumbling 30 percent in 2012 (causing that palm oil was one of the worst performing commodities in terms of price growth last year). However, the palm oil price increase earlier this year was merely the result of falling production rates in Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil producers.
