Foreign workers may ‘flood’ tourist industry

The isle’s tourist industry must protect local workers before the ASEAN Economic Community comes into effect in 2015, when foreign workers might “flood” Bali due to liberalized labor laws, a senior official has said.

“Bali is the ‘capital city’ of Indonesian tourism. We predict that most foreign workers will be targeting Bali,” Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry tourism human resources chief I Gde Pitana said.

ASEAN’s member nations are set to adopt a “free-flow” policy for workers in several sectors, including tourism, starting in 2015, meaning that ASEAN citizens can work in any member nation if they are certified under regional standards.

“Unfortunately, as of now, only 1.18 percent of a total 4 million tourism workers in Indonesia have undergone the certification process. It means that we still have a hard task. If by 2015 we only have a small number of certified workers and many workers from ASEAN countries have already been certified, they will flood labor’s market in Indonesia,” Pitana said.

Pitana said that Filipinos would be the strongest competitors for local jobs, given that the Philippines had a free education system and many Filipinos spoke English.

“The Philippines uses the English language in daily life, and the country has workers of good quality,” Pitana said.

Local workers would also face stiff competition from other ASEAN member nations, given that tourists preferred to be served by workers from their own country, Pitana said.

“Every year, we have around 1.2 million Malaysians visiting Indonesia. They usually feel more comfortable with workers from their own country, It means we can’t avoid tight competition,” he said.

Pitana said that Singapore would complete the employee-certification process before any other ASEAN member nation “because Singapore is a small, very manageable country and has a good system”.

Malaysia and the Philippines, he added, also currently had a large number of certified tourism workers.

“They will flood Indonesia, especially Bali. Whereas, it should be the other way around, because Indonesia has the largest number of workers,” Pitana said.

“I’m not sure why the certification process has proceeded at a sluggish face,” he said.

The government has been facilitating and funding certification programs for professionals in designated industries, while the The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has set a target to certify 50,000 workers by the end of 2014.

Although most of the government’s money for certifications has been allocated to Bali,the local tourism industry had to speed the process by chipping in to certify workers. Pitana added.

Separately, the head of the Tourism Workers Union’s (SP-Par) Bali chapter, Putu Satyawira Mahendra, said that the government had yet to provide workers with clear information on the certification process.

“We really don’t understand who is responsible for the certification process. Who actually should pay for the certification: workers or employers?” Mahendra said.

“If the certification process is mandatory, then what is the benefit for the workers? Are employers going to raise salaries for workers who complete the process?”

Employers have also voiced concerns that workers might seek better jobs once they were certified.

Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Association of the Indonesian Tourism Industry, said that most employers backed certifications.

“We need certified workers to give good service. Most of the industry, such as hotels, restaurants and others, are ready to pay,” he said.

Sourced: thejakartapost