Bekasi, West Java. More than 25,000 job seekers crowded the President University Convention Center on Tuesday for a large job fair organized by the Bekasi Regency Government. The event featured 2,517 job openings from 64 companies across various industrial zones in Bekasi.

The turnout exceeded expectations, with many applicants arriving as early as 6 a.m. and waiting in long lines for hours. Among them was 19-year-old Kemala Putri from Cibarusah District, who waited 90 minutes to enter the venue. She expressed concern over the chaotic conditions at the event.

“I graduated in 2024 and hope to find a decent job, but there was pushing and shoving, and some people even fainted,” Kemala said on-site.

Officials observed several cases of fatigue and fainting due to overcrowding. Applicants also voiced frustrations over the difficulty of finding jobs in Bekasi, citing competition with migrant workers and widespread job brokering practices.

Bekasi Regent Ade Kuswara Kunang acknowledged the overwhelming interest in the job fair, which surpassed the organizers’ expectations. He announced that the government is considering hosting a second wave of the job fair to accommodate more residents.

“This is also a moral responsibility for us,” Ade said. He urged participating companies to prioritize hiring local residents holding Bekasi ID cards, warning against favoring workers from outside the region.

The Bekasi government plans to hold follow-up job fairs later this year to expand employment opportunities for local citizens.

Rising Unemployment Poses Challenge for Indonesian Labor Market

Meanwhile, Indonesia faces increasing unemployment pressures nationally. Labor organizations report at least 70,000 job losses from January to April 2025, nearly matching the 80,000 rise in unemployment between February 2024 and February 2025. This figure is much higher than the government’s official count of 24,000 layoffs as of May 2025.

Manpower Minister Yassierli informed lawmakers that this recent wave of layoffs represents nearly one-third of all job losses recorded in 2024.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the national open unemployment rate slightly improved to 4.76 percent in February 2025 from 4.82 percent the previous year. However, the number of unemployed individuals grew by 80,000 due to a rapidly expanding labor force, which reached 153.05 million workers in February—a 3.67 million increase year-on-year.

Youth unemployment remains a critical issue, with 16.16 percent of those aged 15 to 24 out of work, compared to just 1.67 percent for workers aged 60 and above. Notably, the older age group is the only one to experience an increase in unemployment this year.

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