TULUNGAGUNG – Tulungagung authorities have started limiting ASN recruitment as employee spending in the regional budget remains above the maximum limit set by Indonesia’s central government.

The Tulungagung Personnel and Human Resources Agency said employee expenditure currently accounts for 31 percent of the regional budget. Although the figure has declined from 37 percent in previous years, it still exceeds the mandatory 30 percent ceiling.

Head of the agency Soeroto said the decrease happened because many civil servants retired in recent years. The local government also no longer employs honorary staff.

“In the past, employee spending reached 37 percent. Many ASN employees have now retired, and honorary workers are no longer part of the system, so the figure dropped to 31 percent,” he said.

The policy refers to Law Number 1 of 2022 on Financial Relations Between Central and Regional Governments. Under the regulation, local administrations must keep employee spending below 30 percent of total regional budgets.

The central government plans to fully enforce the policy in 2027. Because of that deadline, Tulungagung has started adjusting its recruitment strategy earlier.

Officials now plan to restrict the number of new ASN appointments each year. According to Soeroto, recruitment numbers cannot exceed the number of retiring employees.

“We cannot recruit large numbers of ASN workers. New appointments must stay below the number of employees entering retirement,” he explained.

Around 600 Tulungagung civil servants retire every year. Authorities believe the retirement trend will gradually reduce employee spending over the next few years.

Despite the recruitment restrictions, the agency has not prepared plans to reduce the number of PPPK contract employees or part-time PPPK workers.

Soeroto said the central government has also not issued clear regulations regarding part-time PPPK employment status.

“At this moment, we have no plans to reduce PPPK or part-time PPPK workers,” he said.

He added that part-time PPPK employees may still apply for civil servant recruitment programs if they have worked for at least one year.

Workers with less than one year of service must resign first before registering for the national civil servant selection process.

The policy adjustment reflects wider efforts by local governments across Indonesia to manage payroll spending while maintaining public services and administrative efficiency.