Erwin Aksa, Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hopes that layoffs in digital companies will not become widespread. However, he said workforce adjustments may still occur if pressure on profitability continues.
Erwin made the statement in response to reports that Tokopedia had laid off up to 90 percent of its workforce. According to him, if the reports are accurate, the move reflects an ongoing consolidation process within the technology industry rather than signaling a weakening of Indonesia’s digital economy.
Previously, Simon Tak Leung Ho, Director of PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk. (GOTO), explained that the large-scale layoffs were part of Tokopedia’s organizational restructuring following TikTok’s acquisition of a majority stake in the company. The restructuring reportedly affected around 90 percent of employees, leaving only about 10 percent of the workforce by early July 2026.
“As a 24.99 percent shareholder in PT Tokopedia, the Company respects every decision taken, or to be taken, by the management of PT Tokopedia regarding its organizational restructuring plan,” Simon said.
TikTok also stated that it is currently reorganizing its research and development operations to support the company’s long-term growth and business sustainability.
“We are aligning our research and development organization toward areas that can drive sustainable long-term growth for our business, our creator community, and sellers on our platform,” a company spokesperson said.
Erwin said that if the reported layoffs are indeed taking place, they should be viewed as part of the business model adjustments currently being undertaken by many technology companies amid changes in the industry’s landscape.
“Technology companies are now expected to prioritize profitability, operational efficiency, and productivity over the aggressive expansion strategies that were previously fueled by inexpensive funding,” he said.
Facing Growing Pressure
According to Erwin, technology companies are currently facing multiple challenges, including slowing consumer spending, increasingly intense business competition, rising customer acquisition costs, and rapid technological developments such as artificial intelligence.
Nevertheless, he believes the fundamentals of Indonesia’s digital economy remain strong. This is reflected in the continued growth of digital transaction values and the increasing adoption of technology across the country.
“The challenge is how companies can build healthy and sustainable business models,” he said.
He emphasized that each company faces different circumstances, making it inappropriate to treat a single case as representative of the entire digital industry.
According to Erwin, many companies are still expanding and recruiting employees, particularly in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, and enterprise digital services.
He added that several sectors are expected to remain under pressure through the end of the year, including e-commerce businesses that rely heavily on subsidy and promotional strategies, startups that have yet to achieve profitability, export-oriented labor-intensive industries, as well as modern retail and logistics sectors that depend heavily on consumer purchasing power.
In contrast, industries related to industrial digitalization, artificial intelligence, data centers, business-to-business (B2B) services, healthcare, and digital education are still expected to enjoy positive growth prospects.
To strengthen the competitiveness of Indonesia’s digital industry, Kadin encourages the government and businesses to deepen collaboration by providing regulatory certainty and increasing investment in AI, data centers, semiconductors, and value-added digital economy initiatives.
“Ultimately, the success of the digital sector should not be measured solely by the number of startups that emerge, but by its ability to create healthy, globally competitive, sustainable businesses that continue generating high-quality employment opportunities for the Indonesian people,” Erwin said.***
