Subang residents press BYD for more local jobs at new EV plant

Residents seek hiring quota and training

Villagers surrounding the Smartpolitan Industrial Estate accused the Chinese electric vehicle maker of hiring too few people from Subang. The protest organizer, the United Subang Community Forum (FMSB), estimated that residents of the regency held fewer than 20 percent of the factory's jobs.

The forum demanded more vocational training, transparent recruitment and a requirement that companies investing in Subang fill 70 percent of their jobs with local workers.

"We are not here to obstruct investment but to communicate and find solutions so that local workers can be employed," protest spokesman Megi Akbar Setiawan said, as quoted by Kompas.com. He described industrial jobs as a path to better living standards, especially for high school and vocational school graduates unable to afford university.

Subang's poverty rate was 8.70 percent in 2026, compared with about 6.54 percent across West Java, according to Kompas.id. About 146,820 people in the regency lived in poverty, while the number of unemployed people was recorded at 76,115 in 2025.

Recruitment complaints reach officials

A few days after the protest, representatives of the demonstrators met with BYD and the Subang Regency Manpower Office to discuss the hiring dispute, according to Adi Komar, head of the West Java Communication and Information Office. He told Kompas.id that the government had received several complaints from residents struggling to apply for jobs at the company.

West Java's provincial government has launched a job-vacancy app, "Nyari Gawe," which Adi said gives Subang residents priority for BYD recruitment without waiving the company's skill requirements. BYD has advertised around 3,000 positions through the app and hired more than 800 people. Across all 230 participating companies, the app lists 32,125 positions and has been accessed by 728,085 job seekers.

Industry Minister Muhammad Sarmuji said on Oct. 30, 2026, that the government might inspect the factory. According to Jakarta Globe, he attributed part of the dispute to differing perceptions between BYD and residents and said a resolution would require coordination with agencies beyond the Industry Ministry.

A major investment with plans to expand employment

BYD inaugurated the Subang assembly plant on Sept. 3, 2026. The 126-hectare facility represents an investment of Rp 16 trillion (about $908 million) and can produce 150,000 vehicles annually, according to Tempo.co English, electrive.com and Jakarta Globe. BYD Vice President Liu Xueliang said the workforce exceeds 5,000, with plans to reach 20,000 at full capacity.

The plant is BYD's third automobile factory in Southeast Asia, following facilities opened in Thailand in 2024 and Cambodia in 2025, electrive.com reported.

BYD Group sold more than 46,700 vehicles in Indonesia from January through September 2026, according to Jakarta Globe. BYD led the country's EV market with a 37 percent share as of August. Gaikindo data cited by the outlet showed that battery electric vehicles represented 16.8 percent of Indonesia's 679,020 vehicle sales in the first nine months of 2026.

Production and local-content commitments

BYD also faces a deadline tied to its earlier imports. Under a government scheme running from February 2024 through December 2025, it imported 92,000 vehicles exempt from import duty and luxury goods sales tax. The company must match that volume with local production by Dec. 31, 2027, according to electrive.com.

Separately, Indonesia's local-content requirement for EV manufacturing, known as TKDN, rises from 40 percent in 2026 to 60 percent for 2027-2029 and 80 percent in 2030. BYD Indonesia president director Eagle Zhao said in September 2026 that the company was optimistic it would meet the 60 percent threshold starting in January 2027.