University graduates in Jakarta, Indonesia apply for sanitation worker jobs amid economic downturn

In the past few weeks, over 8,000 job seekers in Jakarta, Indonesia have applied for positions as sanitation workers.

According to The Jakarta Post, around 7,000 people applied for jobs in the Public Facility Maintenance Agency within two days since recruitment began on Apr. 22.

Another 1,000 signed up in the week since then.

They are competing for 1,100 jobs allocated by the Jakarta administration.

Jobs only require a primary school education

These sanitation workers, in their bright orange vests, are a common sight in the city.

Although the jobs require only a primary school education and basic reading and writing skills, the recruitment drive has attracted university graduates.

Among them is 37-year-old Atika Nurmalasari, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Jakarta’s Institute of Economic Sciences.

She applied together with her husband after losing her clerical job.

She said to the Jakarta Post, “I know that the competition will be stiff, considering thousands of people have applied. But I put my hopes high.”

“These days it is hard to find (a job) that pays enough to cover our children’s bills,” she added.

Rising workforce anxiety

The sanitation roles offer a monthly salary of Rp 5.3 million (S$414), health insurance and holiday bonuses.

This falls just slightly under the average net wage of Rp 5.81 million (S$454) for formal employees in Jakarta.

However, to many Jakartans who work in informal sectors without proper pay and insurance, the job security provided by sanitation roles may be preferred over roles that match their qualifications.

Labour expert Tadjuddin Noer Effendi at Gadjah Mada University attributed the surge in applicants to rising unemployment and layoffs in the city.

He explained, “Currently, many people are craving for jobs. When the offer from the city administration is decent, even university graduates will apply for such a job.”

The Indonesian Ministry of Manpower reported that the first two months of 2025 alone saw 2,650 layoffs in Jakarta.

As of 2024, the unemployment rate in Jakarta is 6.03 per cent, a 2.48 per cent reduction from 2021, according to Statista, yet it still remains the Indonesian province with the fourth-highest unemployment rate.

Economic slowdown

Indonesia Business Post reported that Indonesia’s economic growth in the first quarter of 2025 was at its slowest in more than three years.

The GDP decline of 0.98 per cent quarter-on-quarter is the steepest in the past five years, said Center of Economic and Law Studies researcher, Galau D Muhammad.

“Mass layoffs in manufacturing and textiles are shrinking the formal workforce, pushing more Indonesians into insecure and unprotected employment,” he added.

Top photos via Adi Black/Facebook