Indonesia has a very strong furniture and home décor industry. The Indonesian furniture manufacturers have shown their capability to compete in a global market with their unique and high-quality products. Based on Statistic Indonesia, the export value of Indonesian furniture to the United States (US) rose by 51.3% year on year (YoY) to US$ 582.11 million during the period of January-May 2020, from US$ 384.82 million recorded in the same period last year. The top five markets for Indonesian furniture are the USA, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.
However, there are several issues faced by the furniture manufacturers in Indonesia. The availability of the raw material in the future and the human resources who have the skills to continue the business are the two main issues. We cannot question that human capital is playing an essential role in the furniture industry in Indonesia. Employee’s education, training, intelligence, skills, health, and other characteristics employers value such as loyalty and punctuality are very affecting the company. Talking about human capital cannot be separate from talking about social sustainability.
What is social sustainability? Why is it important?
As stated in Wikipedia, Social sustainability is one of four aspects of sustainability or sustainable development. Social sustainability involves human rights, labor rights and corporate governance. In accordance with environmental sustainability, social sustainability brings the idea that future generations should have the same or greater access to social resources as the current generation (inter-generational equity), while there should also have equal access to social resources within the current generation (intra-generational equity). Social resources include ideas as broad as cultures and basic human rights.
This concept is important because social sustainability gives a chance to the business, especially Indonesian furniture manufacturers, to have a continuity of the raw material resources and human resources. Social sustainability put forward the human capital while keeping the environment green. In another word, social sustainability pays attention to the human quality of life, such as physical & mental medical support, education training opportunities, employment opportunities, access to support and of course safety and security.
Asean Sourcing is a trading and sourcing company based in Indonesia who is supporting local manufacturers, especially in Bali and Java, by buying products only from qualified and green companies.
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