Jakarta. Hundreds of thousands of workers in Jakarta have been laid off, put on unpaid forced leave or are working reduced hours during the Covid-19 epidemic.

The Jakarta Manpower, Transmigration and Energy Agency said a total of 162,416 workers have been affected by the measures by April 4.

The data from the agency will soon be submitted to the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

Out of the above total, 3,348 registered companies reported 30,137 of their workers had been laid off.

"A total of 132,279 workers from 14,697 registered companies were also put on unpaid forced leave," the agency's head, Andri Yansyah, said in Jakarta on Monday.

As part of its stimulus package to counter the effects of the epidemic, the Indonesian government has issued a policy of accelerating and expanding its pre-employment card program which will provide job skills training and incentives for laid-off workers.

According to Andri, the central government will distribute the pre-employment card to 1,646,541 people in Jakarta. 

Meanwhile, he said the unemployment number in Jakarta is still likely to increase as the agency is still inviting other companies to register their laid-off workers.