JakartaGlobe-May 30
While people usually look forward to taking a break from work, “too many holidays” can spell bad news for Indonesia’s productivity. Throughout 2024, Indonesia has had 17 national holidays. The government has added 10 collective leave days — additional days off that usually take place after religious holidays. This means that Indonesians enjoy almost a month of public holidays cumulatively. There are also 104 weekend days in 2024, meaning that the effective working days in Indonesia are only 64 percent of the calendar year. According to Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah, employers must allow their workers to have public holidays as they are mainly related to religious rituals. In other words, companies have a choice to instruct their employees to work during these days. The minister said the long holidays could boost Indonesia’s economy, particularly the tourism sector. However, data shows that “too many holidays” have taken a toll on Indonesian per-worker labor productivity. They are also detrimental to many sectors. According to the 2023 Asian Productivity Organization Databook, the average worker in Indonesia contributes $26,300 to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This is lower than the per-worker labor productivity in ASEAN, which amounts to $27,800. Indonesia is even falling behind fellow ASEAN members in terms of workers’ productivity. The average Singaporean worker contributes $175,900. The per-worker labor productivity in Malaysia reaches $60,900, while Thailand’s stands at $33,000. For comparison, Singapore has 11 public holidays throughout 2024, while Malaysians have 21 public holidays. Thailand has 16 public holidays this year. The automotive industry also struggles during these times. In April 2024, the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) data shows that Indonesia’s wholesale car sales dropped 35 percent month-to-month from 74,274 units to 48,637 units in April 2024. Read more at: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/too-many-holidays-spell-bad-news-for-indonesias-productivity
