The residents of Sulawesi, Indonesia, once dreamed of becoming civil servants and earning a steady income. They were not wealthy, but many had land, which generated enough to live on. 

That changed with Indonesia’s nickel boom. Since 2020, the government has pushed for domestic nickel processing, especially to feed China’s booming electric vehicle industry. Indonesia last year accounted for 61% of the world’s refined nickel. Stories of previously unimaginable wealth now circulate in the villages: A neighbor’s daughter bought a four-bedroom house, a cousin spent 100 million rupiah ($6,134) for a wedding dowry. 

Many of these windfalls can be traced to the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) — the world’s largest nickel processing zone, where tens of thousands of young, educated rural Indonesians are taking on high-risk, high-reward blue-collar jobs. 

IMIP is partly owned by China’s Tsingshan Holding Group, the world’s largest nickel processor, and hosts 53 companies. It employs about 86,000 Indonesians, 16,000 Chinese workers, and 24,000 contractors, IMIP spokesperson Dedy Kurniawan told Rest of World.

But the boom may be slowing. As carmakers such as BYD and Tesla switch to cheaper lithium ion phosphate batteries, which do not use nickel, demand has dropped. Oversupply by Indonesia’s smelters has also driven down prices. In July, nickel was trading at about $15,000 per tonne, compared to over $48,000 per tonne in early 2022.

Factories are cutting production. Workers and trade unions told Rest of World layoffs are happening at nickel sites. 

“The environment has been destroyed by mining and smelting. People cannot return to the [farming and fishing] jobs they knew,” Arko Tarigan, critical minerals campaigner at nonprofit Trend Asia, told Rest of World. As people now rely on wages from nickel, layoffs “will cause poverty,” he said.

While nickel jobs have made it possible for workers to buy homes, send money to families, and educate siblings, they come at a cost. A dozen workers told Rest of World they are paid the regional minimum wage of 4 million rupiah ($244) per month, and rely on constant overtime to make ends meet. Workplace accidents are unusually frequent at IMIP.

The following profiles — of a furnace operator, a power plant worker, a crane technician, and others — show how young Indonesians navigate the trade-offs between income and safety. Workers requested pseudonyms be used as their companies don’t allow them to talk to the media.

Irfan

Job title: Dump-truck driver

Position overview: Irfan, 30, drives a factory waste truck along a 10-kilometer route (6.2 miles) to a dump site, completing about 14 trips daily over potholed roads. 

Education: Bachelor’s degree in development economics. 

Work conditions: He works up to 12 hours per shift, with no days off. He has chronic back pain and is so fatigued, he worries about getting into an accident.

Compensation: He is paid 3.3 million rupiah ($203) per month plus allowances. But with daily overtime, he earns up to 13 million rupiah ($802) a month — an extremely high income for a driver in Indonesia. 

“I am sure no one will be willing to work long hours if our wage is much higher. Even when we are sick, we force ourselves to work,” he said.

IMIP spokesperson Dedy said the IMIP provides “decent” wages that exceed the regional minimum wage. 

Career path: Irfan dreams of leaving this job and trading commodities, such as cloves. He is saving to buy a house, which he hopes to rent out for supplementary income to support his wife and infant daughter.

Astrid Laokko

Job title: Former hoist crane operator

Position overview: Laokko, 27, moved heavy items across the factory floor, until a workplace accident led to her demotion to janitor. 

Education: Diploma in medical records and information.

Work conditions: She worked in a cabin perched 10 meters above ground. “It was like playing games,” she said. “It’s so fun pushing the buttons.”

One day in 2023, Laokko got her period at work and didn’t have a sanitary pad. She tied a sweater around her waist and felt stressed. The factory was busy, and without walkie-talkies, workers relied on shouting and hand gestures to communicate. A miscue led her to move the crane bucket too quickly, damaging the wrap of the steel coils. 

She was reassigned to work as a janitor. Recently, she was diagnosed with depression, which she attributes to job stress.

Dedy from IMIP said the park strives for gender equality and allows workers to take maternity and menstrual leave.  

Compensation: Laokko earned 8 million rupiah ($493) a month with overtime. She saved half her income and bought a house with a mortgage. 

Career path: Laokko would prefer a government job. “Although the salary may be lower, that’s okay. My mental health and comfort are what matter most,” she said.

Amira

Job title: Chemical lab worker at a coal-fired power plant

Position overview: Amira, 26, tests water samples from boilers, checking for impurities that could corrode the pipes.

Education: Diploma in chemical engineering from the Morowali Metal Industry Polytechnic, a government-funded vocational school that funnels workers into IMIP. 

Work conditions: The job is repetitive and after four years with no advancement, she feels stuck.  

“The requirements for promotion from my supervisor are too high. It’s even tougher for women,” she said, attributing this to a perception that women are less capable of leading a team. 

Dedy said women work in key positions that don’t require physical strength, such as “hoist crane operators, administrators, laboratory workers, and even control room operators, which are the heart of a smelter’s operations.”

Compensation: She earns, with overtime, 7 million rupiah ($430) per month. After three years of careful savings, she has bought a house, which she rents out for 4.5 million rupiah ($277) per month.

Career path: Amira hopes to find a job at a state-owned industrial unit, which would pay a decent wage without overtime. But the time isn’t right for career moves as layoffs are happening in the nickel sector.

Ryan

Job title: Furnace operator

Position overview: Ryan, 27, loads raw materials into the furnace and handles molten nickel. He didn’t worry about burns until 2023, when a furnace fire at IMIP killed 13 workers and injured 46. Indonesia’s nickel sector had 93 workplace accidents in the eight years ending 2023, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to Trend Asia.  

Education: Bachelor’s degree in food technology. He has picked up a few words in Mandarin to communicate with his Chinese coworkers.

Work conditions: Ryan has burn scars on his hands and has seen colleagues vomit blood, suffer respiratory infections, and develop pinched nerves. “I never imagined working as a furnace operator. This is a job that most workers avoid,” Ryan told Rest of World. 

Dedy said the park has a safety task force that is auditing tenant companies. As of February, 31 companies had been audited, with some in the process of being certified safe.  

Compensation: With overtime, Ryan earns 7 million rupiah ($429) a month. He gets no hazard allowance. He sends half his earnings home to support his siblings’ education.

Career path: Though there is talk of layoffs, Ryan thinks his role is irreplaceable.

Rikza

Job title: Heavy machinery electrician

Position overview: Rikza, 27, used to maintain and repair machines at a nickel pig iron factory. He recently left IMIP for a nickel mine.

Education: Diploma in electrical engineering from the Morowali Metal Industry Polytechnic. He joined IMIP in 2019.

Work conditions: Tensions between Indonesian and Chinese nickel workers have turned violent at other nickel plants. Rikza recalled an incident where a Chinese coworker kicked a screwdriver over to him instead of handing it over. Rikza initially felt offended, but realized the coworker meant no harm. “Actually, my Chinese coworkers respect us Indonesian workers when we show them that we are capable of doing our jobs,” he told Rest of World. 

Compensation: He got a monthly pay, with overtime, of up to 11 million rupiah ($675). He paid for the schooling of his siblings. 

Career path: Rikza worries about layoffs as it’d be difficult to find an equally well-paying job outside the nickel sector.

Iqbal

Job title: Quality control technician

Position overview: Iqbal inspects 450-kilogram (992 pounds) sacks of lithium hydroxide, a key ingredient in EV batteries. He looks for contaminants larger than 0.5 millimeters, such as sand and paint peel, which can cause explosions. 

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Islamic economics.

Work environment: Iqbal used to remove pungent-smelling waste from the factory. When he asked for a respirator, his manager gave him a surgical mask instead. His current quality control job is safer, with “lighter work hazards” such as skin burns and infertility, he said.

Compensation: Iqbal earns 6 million rupiah ($370) per month with overtime. He pays for his sibling’s education. 

Career path: Iqbal doesn’t plan to work long in metals. His family farms red ginger for sale in his home village of Pinrang, and he dreams of opening a cafe.