Man: In the old days, the scams used the method 'Congratulations, you've won a luxury car'
Woman: Now it's "Congratulations, you've been selected for an interview with the company XYZ..."
Indonesia's job market showed renewed strain in August with unemployment ticking higher as tens of thousands lost their jobs and young workers once again bore the brunt of the slowdown.
Despite mass layoffs in the manufacturing sector, the share of formal employment actually improved. But analysts warned that many of these positions were short-term or contractual, offering little job security and potentially dampening worker morale and productivity.
The National Statistics Agency (BPS) said in its biannual employment survey that the national unemployment rate inched up to 4.85 percent in August 2025 to 7.46 million jobless, higher than February's 7.28 million.
The largest group of unemployed, nearly one in three, were categorised as long-term unemployed, referring to those who have been seeking work for more than a year. This was followed by those with previous work experience who are currently unemployed, accounting for 30.53 percent.
According to the World Bank's latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update published in October, Indonesia's youth unemployment rate of 17.3 percent was among the highest in Asia, just behind India's 17.6 percent. In line with this, the BPS survey showed that the unemployment rate for Indonesians aged 15 to 24 stood at 16.9 percent in August, up from 16.1 percent in February.
The August survey also revealed a shift in the workforce between the formal and informal sectors. The formal sector employed 42.2 percent of the workforce in August, up from 40.6 percent in February and 42.05 percent in August last year. The increase in formal employment however was largely driven by part-time hiring, as full-time recruitment has stagnated.
Meanwhile losses from scams and illegal financial activities in Indonesia have surged sharply, reaching 4.6 trillion rupiah (US$283 million) in just 10 months, the government said in August. And, according to a 2024 Asia Scam Report, 65 percent of Indonesians experience scam attempts every week ranging from fake job offers to investment fraud.
[Abridged from a Jakarta Post article on November 11 titled "Rising temp jobs, jobless youth strain Indonesia's job market".]
