President Jokowi delivers his remarks and opens the XXII Congress of the Indonesian Economic Scholars Association (ISEI) and the 2024 National Seminar held at Alila Hotel, Surakarta city, Central Java province, Thursday (09/19). (Photo by: Screenshot of Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel)
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, on Thursday (09/19), officially opened the XXII Congress of the Indonesian Economic Scholars Association (ISEI) and the 2024 National Seminar held at Alila Hotel, Surakarta city, Central Java province.
President Jokowi warned about the shrinking labor opportunities caused by the global economic slowdown, increased automation, and the gig economy.
“If you ask me which direction to focus on, I’d say that we must focus on the labor market now and in the future. This is because, in the future, there will be too few employment opportunities for too many people in the workforce. Too few jobs for too many people,” the President said.
The President further said that to benefit from the demographic bonus expected to happen in 2030, the country needs more employment opportunities. However, he also pointed out that the world is facing severe challenges today, namely the global economic slowdown.
“In 2023, the World Bank estimated that the global economy would only grow by 2.7 [percent]. In 2024, the figure is estimated at 2.6 [percent]. Next year, the World Bank predicted a slight increase to 2.7 [percent]. However, this is still far from the expected [figures] targeted by all countries,” he said.
Despite slowing global economic growth, the President stated that Indonesia’s economy can still grow at 5.1 percent, higher than the global average.
“As stated by Mr. Chairperson, we can grow to approximately 5.1 [percent]. We should be grateful for this because the global economy is predicted to only grow by 2.6-2.7 [percent],” he added.
According to the President, several industrial sectors have implemented automation systems, such as mechanical automation, analytical automation, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. He estimated that several jobs will disappear due to the increasing automation in various sectors.
“If we read, by 2025, we will lose 85 million jobs. This is not a small number. We are obligated to create employment opportunities, but in fact, in 2025, we will lose 85 million jobs due to the rise of automation in various sectors,” he said.
Regarding the trending gig economy, the President also pointed out that this system allows companies to hire part-time employees to reduce the risk of ongoing global uncertainties.
“We can see this trend heading that way. The workers can work here, or they can work in other countries. So once again, employment opportunities are shrinking and decreasing,” he stated.
For this reason, the President called on the association to prepare tactical strategies for dealing with these issues.
“I expect ISEI to have delivered the study. The design should be tactical. The plan should be tactical. The strategy should be tactical and detailed. If we have them, we’ll know where to go. If we are interrupted here, we’ll know where we should go. We need these tactical details, not some macro plans that are difficult to implement in dire situations,” he remarked. (TGH/ABD) (FI/MMB)
