Since the riots, the phones at the offices of Jim Castle, a prominent U.S. business consultant and vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce here, have stopped ringing. Even before the unrest, business was at its lowest level since he opened his doors two decades ago. And those are the lucky ones. By the end of this year, at least 15 million additional Indonesians are expected to be unemployed, in a country without any significant jobless benefits or retraining programs. Now I make less than a shoe salesman.
Business plans are of little use, because the economic ground shifts by the minute.
During Indonesia's boom years, Medrial Alamsyah left his job with a foreign firm and started his own advertising and consulting firm. His cash cow was selling advertising space on the back of airline tickets. After the rupiah began its downward plunge, cash-strapped companies began cutting their advertising budgets. His client list was reduced by half, and his printing costs fluctuated wildly as the price of imported paper and ink shot up. Today, it might be 10 rupiah per ticket, tomorrow 15 or 20.