SEMARANG – Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) of Diponegoro University (UNDIP) holds PUBLIKISME Events to strengthen the learning process for students in handling activities. This tradition, which is initiated by Department of Public Administration, FISIP UNDIP, is dedicated so that students will improve their organizational skills through managing events or activities that involve many parties.
PUBLIKISME itself is a series of major events organized by Student Association of Department of Public Administration (Himpunan Mahasiswa Jurusan Administrasi Publik) FISIP which has been held since 2014. In this event, they hold a series of events such as National Seminars, Student Scientific Writing Contest, Essay Contest for High School Students and Equals, Alumni Gathering, and also ‘Publikustik’ music performance, and Public Super Sale bazaar.
Dean of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Dr. Hardi Warsono MTP, officially opened PUBLIKISME National Webinar with the theme “New Normal Era Employment Policy in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges”. Several figures namely Ir. Abdul Kadir Karding, S.Pi., M.si, Member of Indonesian Parliament; Frans Kongi, Chairman of Apindo Central Java, and Dr. Andarani Yurikosari, S.H., M.H., Chair of Center for the Study of Industrial Relations and Labor Protection (Pusat Studi Hubungan Industrial dan Perlindungan Tenaga Kerja) of Faculty of Law, Trisakti University; explain their studies related to this theme.
According to Hardi Warsono, the PUBLIKISME Program of FISIP UNDIP has brought many benefits for students since its first performance, so that the faculty agrees to maintain and to develop the program. The involvement of students in organizing events which studies are relevant to actual conditions is considered to provide useful insights and experiences.
In the pandemic situation due to Covid-19, where many problems interfere with all economic fields, the ability to change and to adapt in all fields must be done. Most noticeably, Covid-19 made the industrial revolution 4.0 is happening faster than it is predicted. Therefore students as new recruits are required to be adaptive in new normal era by improving their capacity.
In the webinar which was held on Tuesday (24/11/2020), Abdul Kadir explained about “Challenges and Opportunities for Workers in New Normal Era”, Frans Kongi as the Chairman of Apindo Central Java delivered speech about “Conditions, Challenges and Business Opportunities in New Normal Era”, while the Chair of PSHIPTK of Trisakti University, Dr. Andarani Yurikosari, S.H., M.H., presented a paper entitled “Employment Policy in New Normal Era in Indonesia from the Perspective of Manpower Law”.
A member of Indonesian Parliament who is also an alumnus of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Undip, Ir. Abdul Kadir Karding, S.Pi., M.si, reminded about manpower challenges, especially there is increase in the workforce of 2.9 million people per year. The current growth of the workforce has to deal with the reality of fewer amount of jobs due to pandemic that has laid off about 5 million workers.
Therefore, Karding requested that the discussion about employment will explain about labor, company, and policy, in this case is related to government. All three factors must be discussed in details so that a solution can be found. He also revealed that in the new normal era, the increasingly growing industries are health, food, and online services sectors. Meanwhile, labor-intensive industries such as construction and manufacturing falls to 28% being weaker than their normal capacity.
Meanwhile the Chairperson of Apindo Central Java said the Covid-19 pandemic had hit the manufacturing industry badly. May 2020 is the toughest time, since manufacture industry cannot export goods, as a result of lockdown policy in several foreign trade partners such as in America, China, Japan, India, and others. This condition makes it difficult for entrepreneurs who have produced goods and spent costs of money.
On the other hand, the domestic market also collapsed due to Large-Scale Social Restrictions (Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar) which caused impacts on the decrease of people’s purchasing power. The Central Java textile industry, which is usually being the main supplier of Tanah Abang Jakarta and Pasar Turi Surabaya, is also struggling because the market is closed and company’s cash flow is being disrupted.
A legal expert from Trisakti University, Andarani Yurikosari, stated the pandemic as a Force Majeure, which is an extraordinary event that causes people to be unable to fulfill their achievements due to events beyond their capabilities. However, this condition cannot be immediately used as a reason to cancel a contract or an agreement. Force majeure can only be used to renegotiate between the parties in regard to the contracts. The renegotiated contracts can be about matters that the parties cannot fulfill, including in matters of employment.
Andarani said the parties could make a re-agreement in this pandemic condition. “What is not allowed is making company policies that violate the provisions stipulated in the law”, she said.