Who Received the Most Wage Subsidy Assistance from the Government?

A survey by the National Team for Poverty Reduction Acceleration (TNP2K) shows that sales and service workers received the largest proportion (19.4%) of the wage subsidy assistance (BSU). Examples of jobs in this classification include sales staff, shop assistants, and sales promotion girls (SPGs).

The next largest proportion of BSU recipients were administrative staff at 19.3%. Examples of these jobs include administrative staff, personnel staff, cashiers, bank tellers, and customer service representatives.

Next, technicians and professional assistants made up 17% of BSU recipients. This includes public relations staff, credit department staff, agricultural extension workers, and program/social workers.

14.3% of BSU recipients were machine operators and assemblers. Roughly 10.9% were unskilled laborers, and 9.6% were professional workers.

Meanwhile, the lowest proportion of BSU recipients were skilled agricultural, forestry, and fisheries workers at 0.4%. The survey indicated that no civil servants (PNS), members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), or National Police (Polri) received benefits from the program.

Other findings from this survey include an average base salary of Rp 2.9 million per month for recipients of this social assistance program. 56.45% of recipients were contract workers, and 62% of respondents experienced difficulties meeting their daily needs due to their income being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This survey was conducted on 1,798 respondents across 90 regencies/cities in Indonesia. The survey used a systematic sampling method from March 24th to May 5th, 2021.