Indonesia’s Media Industry Grapples with Mass Layoffs 2025

Indonesia’s media sector is reeling from widespread job cuts in 2024–2025. Press Council data indicate roughly 1,200 media workers (including journalists) were laid off in 2023–24. Industry observers link this to a collapse in advertising revenue – about 75% of national ad spending now flows to global digital platforms – and a major shift in audience habits. Recent surveys show 72% of Indonesian internet users prefer platforms like YouTube and TikTok for news and entertainment, leaving traditional broadcasters and newspapers struggling to compete. In this context, many prominent outlets have cut staff to cut costs.

Major Media Outlets Hit by Layoffs

• Kompas TV (Kompas Gramedia) – reported to have cut on the order of 150 employees.

• TV One (Media Group) – cut about 75 jobs.

• CNN Indonesia (Trans Media) – eliminated roughly 200 positions.

• Emtek Group (Elang Mahkota, owner of SCTV/Indosiar) – let go around 100 staff.

• MNC Group (Global TV, RCTI, iNews, etc.) – downsized aggressively. Industry reports cite ~400 total layoffs across MNC’s TV divisions.

• iNews – under MNC, closed all its local bureaus and axed about 400 workers.

• Rajawali TV (RTV) – cut roughly 40 employees in each division.

• ANTV – cut 57 positions after corporate restructuring.

• Net TV (Netmedia) – shed staff following its acquisition by MD Entertainment.

• Republika (newspaper) – slashed about 60 employees (including 29 journalists).

• Liputan6/Viva (media portal) – closed its Pulogadung office, affecting an undisclosed number of local staff.

Digital news outlets have been under pressure as well. For example, social-media reports suggest Detik.com (Trans Digital Media) cut around 10% of its workforce, though official confirmation is scarce. Narasi (Najwa Shihab’s online media venture) has not publicly announced major layoffs, but industry insiders say virtually all news organizations – from legacy firms to new startups – face an existential threat from declining revenues.

Causes and Industry Impact

Industry leaders point to long-term structural challenges. As Press Council Chair Ninik Rahayu notes, “around 75% of ad revenue” in Indonesia has shifted to global tech and social platforms, so “many local media have lost their primary source of income”. This decline has been exacerbated by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 downturn and rising business costs. The result is that even large media companies must downsize to survive.

The media layoff wave has raised alarms about journalism’s future. The Press Council and journalists’ unions warn that cutting experienced reporters will reduce coverage quality. Vice-Chairman Agung Dharmajaya of the Press Council has described the trend as a structural crisis – driven not only by market forces but by internal factors like low wages and precarious contracts for media workers. He advocates opening a dialogue with government and industry to find solutions, stressing that media companies should rehire or retrain displaced journalists whenever possible. (The Council has even urged launching a journalism endowment fund to support laid-off reporters.)

In short, Indonesia’s media layoffs reflect an industry in transition. As young professionals in media or tech watch these trends, it’s clear that traditional news outlets must innovate rapidly – through new digital content, revenue models, or partnerships – if they hope to keep staff and remain relevant. Otherwise, the ongoing cuts threaten to shrink Indonesia’s newsrooms and weaken the country’s “fourth estate” just as digital media continue to grow.

Sources: Industry reports and media monitoring, including data from the Indonesian Press Council and news coverage of company announcements. These outline the scale of layoffs and the cited reasons (digital disruption, ad revenue decline, restructuring) affecting outlets like Kompas TV, Detik, Narasi, CNN Indonesia, Emtek/SCTV, MNC/iNews, and others.