Future of Work Initiative
Reshaping the labour policies for the future of work
Responding to the major process of change in the Indonesian world of work, the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) conducted a two-day Industrial Relations Conference under the theme “Labour Law Rejuvenation to Face Digitalization Era” in Surabaya, East Java in November.
Supported by the ILO, the conference was attended by 500 labour actors in the country, ranging from the representatives of the Ministry of Manpower, Apindo, private companies, workers’ organizations, academia, employment observes and so forth.
Community are evolving and the law needs to adapt to the situation... and to meet this new “consumers’ needs”, the industry must be able to adapt and change quickly."
Budi Soetjipto, Vice Rector for Research, Development and Partnership at Pertamina University
“Community are evolving and the law needs to adapt to the situation,” said Budi. He provided some examples of the emerging types of services in this digitalization economy. “As we have witnessed that online transportation services are now booming with the operationalization of Uber and Gojek (online transportation businesses in Indonesia) . This has also changed the consumers’ behaviours and to meet this new “consumers’ needs”, the industry must be able to adapt and change quickly,” he added.
To smooth the transition process in the future, it was recommended that the labour law should be flexible and was able to limit on what jobs could be automated, capacity buildings for workers prior to automation to avoid job losses and development of more independent jobs for workers who lost their jobs.
“To better understand and respond effectively to major changes in the world of work, the ILO has launched a “Future of Work initiative.” One of the recognized changes was technological change as a major driver of growth and development. To make technology work for all, policies would play an important role in shaping the future,” said Francesco d’Ovidio, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia, adding that the since its inception in 1919, the ILO has provided a global avenue for discussing the employment impacts of technological progress.