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Indonesia Small-scale Industry
The modern sector of medium and large firms was the
focus of
government policy, but small-scale factories that employed
from
five to nineteen workers and cottage industries that
employed up to
four workers--usually family members--were far more
numerous and
supplied the majority of jobs. Small-scale establishments
engaged
in a wide range of activities, from traditional bamboo
weaving to
metal and leather working. Many of these industries
offered
parttime employment to rural workers during offpeak
seasons.
Statistics on these activities were tenuous because of the
seasonal
patterns and interviewing difficulties. A review of the
available
BPS data by economist Tulus Tambunan showed that
small-scale
industries employed 3.9 million workers in 1986, compared
with 1.7
million employees of medium- and large-scale firms. Still,
this
figure reflected a significant decline from small
industries' share
of employment in 1974, which was about 86 percent of total
industrial employment, or 4.2 million employees compared
with only
about 700,000 in medium and large industries.
Data as of November 1992
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