Migrant Workers Role in Rural-Urban Linkage, Case Study: Industrial Growth in Semarang Regency, Indonesia

Rural-urban linkages are part of regional development concern, providing a regional network strategy to deal with the rural-urban divide issue. Industrial growth in the peri-urban area is an important activity that could bridge the linkage of rural and urban. The recent growth of the industrial sector in Semarang Regency, Indonesia, has fostered the surrounding region workers to migrate into the area that promoted the rural-urban linkage. This paper presents a research result of the industrial migrant workers role in rural-urban linkage of the peri-urban region. The research approach was carried out by descriptive analysis to understand the role of migrant workers in the rural-urban linkage. The research collected data from a sample of migrant workers in the regency. The study found that the rural migrant workers as people movement are the main component of rural-urban linkage, which fosters the other linkage components. The workers bring rural social capital from the origin area to support migration and working activity in the urban area. In general, the growth of migrant workers in the industrial sector in the Semarang Regency has a significant impact on promoting rural-urban linkage, especially regarding the contemporary flow of workers to the urban area and spreading remittance income and information surrounding rural areas. Despite the opportunities, the current rural-urban linkages were not yet effectively realized and utilized by the government to deal with the rural-urban divide issue.


Introduction
Rural-urban linkage is a reciprocal relation of activity and resource flows of the rural and urban areas. Douglass recommended the regional policies to understand rural-urban linkage better to overcome the rural-urban divide [1]. Understanding rural-urban linkage has an important role in promoting the industry growth role to become more meaningful and beneficial to Semarang Regency development.
The industrial sector in Semarang Regency has been growing fast 12.86% / year averagely in 2010-2015, and reach about 40% share of the total PDRB of the regency (BPS -Semarang Regency Statistics, 2010Statistics, -2015. In 2018, about 60% of middle and big industries labor was garment factory workers [2], a mostly labor-intensive production activity. The industrial growth that dominantly garment production provides attractiveness to people in the surrounding area of the Semarang Regency to come and work in the area. About 27.249 work opportunity is provided by industry [2]. In 2015, migrants who came to work in Semarang Regency was about 119.951 or 18% of the total population of Semarang Regency [21]. The growth of the industrial sector and the presence of migrant workers from the surrounding area who came to the Semarang Regency were part of the rural-urban linkage process. In this activity, people flow as workers from villages to the industrial area in Semarang Regency. The recent discussion mentioned the driving force of industry pull factor was more dominant then push factor of workers origin areas [3]. Recent research about migration consistently provides, it could be an option to increase prosperity [4] [5]. Understanding the existence of the rural-urban linkage phenomenon is critical in the increasing possibility of a higher economic gap between urban and rural areas in the Semarang Regency. In this context, a better understanding of the rural-urban linkage existence could help overcome the rural-urban divide issue. Moreover, Funnel mentioned that a better development strategy depends on well-defined rural-urban linkage [6]. The challenge in most cases of large cities, development has less to provide a strong and direct impact policies on rural-urban linkage context [7].
The paper explores the phenomenon of migrant workers in the industrial sector growth in Semarang Regency to understand its nature and various background factors. The discussion scope consists of the flow of migrant workers, the process of interaction between workers in their work, and the implications in both of the urban areas and rural origin area.

Rural-Urban Linkages
Some scholars discussion had indicated that the central issue of the regional development concept regarding the growth of the market tends to increase the inequality among the regions [8]; [9] ; [1]. The growth of the center activity place in regional development can provide a spread effect of growth to the hinterland region. However, on the other hand, the development of a growth center can also result in a backwash effect, which is the effect that absorbs the resources from the hinterland village areas to the center of growth due to the demand for more resource intensity. Poverty in rural areas also encourages population movements from villages to cities to seek better livelihoods [1].
The discussion progressed to the concept that the backwash effect only occurs in the early development stages [10]. When the spatial system has begun to mature, the development is expected to be spread more evenly. However, understanding has encouraged further research. There is no consistent result to describe the reversal of polarization that has occurred sustainably in developing countries, or this occurs when regional economic conditions have developed.
As a strategy, government intervention in regional development is needed to encourage equitable development. Developing urban areas in the periphery could be reached by encouraging the development of interdependent and balanced rural-urban linkages. As the argument, the development should not focus on just developing the cities and regions. However, it is needed to encourage prosperity improvements by migrating people from underdeveloped areas to better development opportunities areas. Rural-urban migrants tend to be the young generation with better physical abilities and well educated [1].
Douglas (1998) mentioned that the forms of rural-urban linkages consisted of the flows of people, production, commodities, capital, and information [1] (see Figure 1). The implementation of the linkage flows in regional spatial context could become urban extension phenomena as suburbanization and become a metropolitan area [11]. The people's activities context could be known as permanent migration, circular migration, or daily commuting activities. In the context of commodities and capital, trading and transaction among rural and urban areas are appropriate evidence. It is also included remittances and a gift from the migrant to their relatives at home villages. The spreading of information and the value of both areas promotes social links and perspective changes.
Migration is the movement of people who cross a boundary to find a new or semi-permanent place to live. Migrant workers are people who move for work purposes, which are also often called labor migrants. The flow of workers occurs as a result of uneven regional development. The neoclassical view of economic theory assumes that the free flow of production factors tends to encourage workers to migrate from low-wage to higher-paying places [12]. Moreover, the separation of rural and urban entities understanding could discourage the analysis of integrated city and countryside and bring mistaken perspectives and development agencies [13].  Mobility is one of people responses to the inequality of development distribution, resources, markets, and employment opportunities. Mobility and migration are complex and dynamic in various forms and types of movements, goals, age, gender and ethnicity. The diversity of these movements reflects the process of socio-economic, population and cultural transformation. Migration and mobility are often more regarded as problems by policy makers and the government agents, and are often late responded to as a livelihood strategy. Access to non-agricultural income, and local non-agricultural employment opportunities in small cities can contribute to reducing poverty and vulnerability [14].
The migration process occurs through personal relationships, culture, and other social relations. The character of rural communities tends to have strong social closeness. In the place of origin of the migrant, information about work and living standards in the destination is conveyed through personal networks such as friends and neighbors those were inspired to migrate. Social relationship is the main platform of migrant workers movement, which become the reason of migrant social closeness to the families in origin areas [15]. Social closeness encourages reciprocal relationship between urban and rural areas in the flow of people, capital, technology and information [16]. The reciprocal relationship has implications to overcome the gap between urban and rural areas.

Social Capital
The rural-urban linkage flows are influenced by social capital existence. Woolcock [17] define social capital as an important asset which constituted by family, friends, or associates, which can be used while on crisis, enjoyed for its own sake or leveraged for material gain. Individual behavior also on social relations and networks also influenced social capital inside community such as trust, reciprocal, and social ability [18] Be a part of community with rich stock of networks and civic associations could provide someone a better chance to overcome poverty, vulnerability, and take advantage in new opportunity to develop. The absence or lack of social network and association could cause lack of influence of individual or community on important decision. As well as benefits, social capital also has cost to be paid, for example, for joining a certain community, peer pressure and strong desire for acceptance could induce someone to take up harmful habits. In institution scale, there are some values that tend to provide more benefit for the group of policy makers than others.

Methods
The research approach was carried out by descriptive analysis to quantitative and qualitative of survey data, in order to frame the understanding the role of migrant workers in the rural urban linkage. The data was collected from the sample of migrant workers in Semarang Regency through primary survey with questionnaire distribution, and held the focus group discussions (FGD). The primary survey respondents were 250 respondents of male and female migrant workers with aged (15-29 years). The location distribution of respondents is proportional to the distribution of the number of workers in each subdistrict. The FGDs were conducted by the six meetings series follow the typology of the 3 segmentations of age (i.e. 15-19 years, 20-24 years, and 25 -29 years old), and 2 gender segmentations (i.e. male and female).
The paper analyses the profile typology of migrant workers i.e. area of origin, type of work, reason for work, and comparison of income to the origin area. The relationship between urban and rural area was explored by reviewing of the frequency of workers to return home, activities to bring friends or relative to urban area, and their activities preferences in the future. The synthesis of study was conducted by comparing research findings with the rural urban linkage conceptual argument and existing development policy, which are appropriate to address the issue of both areas divide.

Industrial Growth and inward flow of migrant workers into Semarang Regency
The beginning of Industrial growth in Semarang Regency was triggered by the shift of Semarang City function from industrial into business and service center city. Less conducive environment for industrial operation, many industrial estates drag their venture outward on suburbs area of Semarang City. Semarang Regency as the periphery area of the city became one of the main location where those industry moved [19]. On the broader scale of industrial change, some of labor-intensive industries around Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA) as one of the largest industrial center areas in Java Island was looking for new area with lower labor wage and land price become the factors of the growth of industrial area in Semarang Regency. The difference of minimum wage between JMA and Semarang Regency is up to 100%. The minimum wage in JMA was around 3,1 million rupiahs (around 230$ US Dollar), meanwhile Semarang Regency minimum wage was 1,5 million rupiahs (around 111% US Dollar), [23]. Besides that, Semarang Regency also has adequate access to infrastructure such as Tanjung Mas seaport and relative near to access toll road. The entering of big and medium industry in Semarang Regency caused industrial sector give highest share of regional economic around 40% in 2015, [22].
Besides their share, growth of industry in Semarang Regency creates many jobs availability. In 2017 there are 9.723 people from formal agency (usually locals) looking for job, meanwhile job availability was around for 27.249 people [2]. The needs of worker can not be filled whole by locals, by this, many migrants came for to be industry worker. Based on 2015 data [21], the amount of migration into Semarang Regency is 119.951 people or around 18% of inhabitants. That were about 64% of migrant from internal Central Java province, and 36% from outside of it.
Meanwhile there are quite significant amount of industry worker as commuter for working. Commuters which come from adjacent region are 78% from Semarang City, 12% from Salatiga City, and only 10% come from 4 adjacent regency. The majority of commuting workers are come from cities, means, working place is accessible enough for workers from adjacent city to do commuting. It also means Semarang Regency gives better access to appropriate work even for city residents. The groups of workers with large numbers whom cannot compete in big cities but feel entitled to get a better economic condition than in the village. The groups of workers tend to choose to be industrial employees because of the availability of jobs and income is better than in the origin area.

Migrant income, information, and support for employment
Most migrant workers who come to the city expect getting a better and more decent livelihood and income. Graph 1 shows that the standard wage workers received in Semarang Regency is slightly higher than most of others regency in Central Java. Even though the standard wage is just slightly higher than other regencies, the survey result says that migrant workers experienced average on their income less than 10% higher and in a range of 10-30% higher than their income in their hometown. Citing from surveys: "I think the wage (industry) is adequate, and there are some insurances" also," if in hometown we can only farming, the income is relatively small, here (Kabupaten Semarang) we get wage monthly". Some of them also state that they were going to take a bachelor degree while working. "it is my dream since school hood to get an education on university…I also choose Semarang because many said the university's education cost is cheap". Higher and more routine wage and better and accessible facility providence make urban jobs more interesting for rural people. Then many rural people are looking for urban job information to get worked in urban.
The closeness of migrant workers to families in the area of origin has economic implications. The migrant workers help and share their income from work in the city for families in the village. Even though the amount is not immense (but quite significant, around average 20% of their wage), they still send part of the family wage. Industry labor is more frequent for acquiring the wage instead of farming activities that usually take months. The survey result shows about 50% of female migrants send some of their wages to their families, more than male migrants which only 30% of male migrants send their wages.   Information about the job is seen as a better opportunity for work. For rural people, information about the job vacancy was brought by their family or friend who has been working in the industry when they back home or visit their village. If their friends or families were interested in the job, they brought them to migrate for work. "I was doing nothing at home, then my friend came and asked if I want to join him for working in the industry." As information technology developed, information about job vacancies can be sent by mobile phone. The survey results show that 70% of the workers already used handphones as their main media of telecommunication, and even less than half of them did not use an internet package on it. At the same time, the rest of 30% choose to meet in person. It means back home by migrants was not necessarily the primary media to spread the information. In line with the current information technology, job vacancy available can be spread faster by industry workers.
Information about job vacancy is also sought by other workers with the hope of better working opportunities, such as better wages, lesser working time, appropriate shift, and match with work type. From the interview, it can be indicated that "With high minimum wage" as worker criteria for choosing an industry, also "it is hard to leave friends after we have gotten close" as the indication that they will not leave the former industry because they already get comfortable with their friends and colleagues. Other criteria, such as insurance or providence of specific facilities, such as praying or breastfeeding rooms, are not the worker's main criteria.
While the information on job vacancy from people who already worked in the industry sector acts as a pull factor of new migrants coming to urban areas, migration help could push migration. The survey results show that almost more than 90% of the migrants got help from close family members or friends to migrate to urban. More in detail, male migrants get more help from their close family members to migrate to urban rather than female migrants, who usually get more migration help from their friends. Also, female migrants tend to migrate with no one help rather than male migrant

Social Life of migrant workers
Regarding the living location, half of the migrant worker live close to their workplace (<5km), and 80% lives not further than 30 minutes from their workplace. Usually, workers use their motorbike, and only 5% use public transport and mostly women. Migrant workers usually rented their accommodation, especially for younger migrants. As the migrant get older, more of them got married and moving to live at the accommodation owned by family/ themselves. Meanwhile, younger migrant which rented accommodation mostly lives with their colleagues or even living alone. As they get older and married, they live with their family.
With their busy hour at work, migrant workers tend to participate in social and organizational activities less. The survey data shows that only 20% of migrants participate in employee organization. A female worker tends to participate more (32.2) % than a male worker (14.4). In terms of participation in the local election, while non-migrant workers' participation is more than 96%, migrant participation in a local election is just 50%, more than 45% choose not to participate in the election. Then perceived from gender election participation female workers tend to choose "do not participate" in local election (30%) more than a male worker (20%), even though female worker participates, they choose to participate in their hometown (20%) more than male workers which participate on their hometown (more than 10%). The migrant social capital with their form family at their hometown is still the highest capital for them, mostly young female migrants.

Plans of migrant workers and supporting skills
The beginning motive of migrant workers looking for industry jobs seeks a better quality of life than what they have gotten in their hometown (rural area). Most of the available jobs with a relatively short period between application and start to work are good opportunities for applicants. After time goes on a dynamic of industry working, several work challenges appeared: long working hours exceed 8 hours of working. Another challenge is scolding received during work, mainly from supervisors. They got scolded because they could not achieve the target, mainly because of external factors such as change of designs by the sudden or late arrival of materials. Another main concern is limited promotion opportunities and the salary not raise. Limited position and taking a long time to achieve the next position to achieve salary raises also become an issue for workers. Almost all survey participants expect to open their own business because of no future as industrial workers. At the end of the work migration, the workers have various considerations to return to their place of origin and settle down. Based on survey data, 50% of migrant workers will return, 32% will not return, and 18% do not know. For some of them, the entrepreneur promises a potential income more than the factory can give. It provides flexibility in working hours and places; some migrants also want to open a business in their hometown to be closer to their parents and family. Even though the enthusiasm to open a new business is high, only a few of them have a real business plan. Some of them still on the stage of saving money to accumulate capital to start the business. It takes quite a time to set their skill and capital needed to start a business. Quoted from the interview, "additional enterprise is varying, people here usually raising livestock, myself, selling handphone accessories." It shows, even though they have the skill to work in a factory when it comes to their enterprise, it is still a simple enterprise that only gives little value chains.
Hopes of workers having adequate skills that can be used to start their own business seems quite far from reality. Skills used in the factory are not adequately useful to start a business for some reason. The first data shows that 65% of respondents said they learned skills that they need in the factory while working at the factory, and it does not need special skills. Other respondents who also entrepreneurs said their main business sectors are: wholesale and trade retail, vehicle repairs, warehousing, accommodation and food services, information and communication, professional services, and scientific and technical activities. No specific skill learned during working in factories mostly related to those sectors means they do not have adequate skills to start their own business. Their long-time working experience is not a guarantee to be ready as entrepreneurship. The second is that even though they learned specific skills, they cannot use outside the factory that does not have a supportive environment. Many specific skills need specific tools too. They still need capital to make those skills and tools to run the production system work even though they have the tools.

Government role and their intervention related to rural-urban linkage
The Government of Central Java has influenced people's migration into Semarang Regency. Related to that, mainly, the Semarang Regency government provides access to training and education, either formal or non-formal. One education program is the education equalization test (usually given to people out of primary education) to get minimum requirements for applying for the job. Besides that, the local government does some monitoring and coordination with migrants in data gathering. The attributes that were documented are migrant origin and their qualification. The process was implented to control migrant flux into Semarang Regency, especially those who come for work. This control is needed for the administration to legalize some of the assurances, such as living and job.
Related to government data collection, collecting data is still limited and cannot reach all migrants. Besides that, administration boundaries also become one of the government authority' challenges for ruling people from another regency. In the educational context, education has focused on industrial skill and fulfillment of formal education prerequisites of factories by the government. There are still a few of the entrepreneurship training, specially programmed for industry workers. Considering a factory job is hard to maintain in the long term because workers tend to shift to the more easy job, and the entrepreneur is seen as prospective. Source: Field survey, 2017

Components and stages of rural-urban linkage process in Semarang Regency
From the case, there are three main components exist based on flow category from rural-urban linkage [1] between Semarang Regency and its adjacent region, i.e. (1) people mobility (migrant workers), (2a) income (remittance), and (2b) information (see Figure 5). Rural-urban linkage processes began with Semarang Regency transformation in industrial and urbanized area growth and became migration destination areas. The location shift of the labor-intense industry from big cities looking for cheaper labor wages with lower land prices in the Semarang Regency generates a significant need for workers in that area. On the other hand, seeking a better quality of life became a push factor of rural habitats working in urban areas. Next, the migrant wave comes from working in the industry and becoming the first rural-urban linkage component between those areas. After the first component settle, the other components begin to work on the rural-urban linkage process. People who migrate as industry workers in Semarang Regency mostly come from internal Central Java Province, especially for regencies adjacent to Semarang Regency that are still rural areas. The needs of immediately ready for work labor and labor-intense industry requirements can be fulfilled with low skilled labor. Local habitant from Semarang tends to get jobs availability information and doing registration faster. One of the factors is that local people tend to back home more frequently and share the information. Vastly spread of information with transportation and asset accessibility to travel for job registration also becomes factors for workers from adjacent Semarang Regency filling the jobs.
According to [1], reciprocal relations happened between rural and urban, which in this case, migrant workers become a link between these two areas. Migrant workers' income has increased after working in the urban sector compared to rural sectors in their hometowns. That income then generates new economic activity in urban by workers' consumption such as daily needs and accommodation or services. This act as economic that generated by industrial activities or industry multiplier effect. The existence of migrant workers could increase that industry multiplier effect cached by Semarang Regency. Besides those consumptions, migrant workers' closeness with their family in hometown makes them set apart of their wage to send it to their family as a remittance. This income share becomes the second component of rural-urban linkage as capital mobility moves from urban to rural. More in detail, based on a gender perspective, female workers tend to send their wages rather than male workers who tend to consume their wages for their own. Distribution of income is one of the migrant workers' roles in the rural-urban linkage.
The remittance gift also makes a right perspective of working as migrant workers for their family, friends or relates as a job that could provide a better quality of living. Influenced by that perspective, there is more rural habitant interested to work in the urban sector. In the first place, job availability information spread along with rural people when migrant workers go back home. They bring who is interested in the place where migrant workers work to apply for that informed job. As a result, there are become more migrant workers. As information and technology developed, most people have their phones; the share of information about job availability is spread faster. Then, it is become faster for getting a new urban job.

Social capital of industrial migrant workers in Semarang Regency
Social Capital is constituted between migrants and their families, friends. The main motive pushes rural people to do working migration as a migrant worker and other processes on the flux of rural-urban linkage components. The seeking of a better quality of living is based not just on self-interest but also on knit social relations with other individuals or groups. Even some migrant workers said that giving job information is not just to give jobs for their relatives but also to bring friends around the place and make social interactions with them. The migration also happened not detached from family and friends' help, giving them some stocks for applying for work in urban areas. Lack of information about the surrounding urban environment makes stocks given by family or friends essential to survive in urban areas until getting paid for the job applied.
After working and gaining some wages, some workers put aside some of their wages for their families in their hometown. Some of the difference between male and female workers is even though male workers tend to be helped by their family for getting the job, they are less of them that giving remittance to their family. Meanwhile, migrant female workers, even though they tend to be helped by friends or even not getting helped at all by anyone, give remittance to the family. It indicates that female migrant workers have stronger relationships with family in their hometown than male migrant workers.
Migrant industry workers with long and busy work hours, their time, and energy are spent working. It could make migrants tend to less active in doing social and organizational activities. Lack of a moment to establish a new social relationship makes migrant social relationships with family and relatives still the strongest. It seems from the data that shows only a few migrant workers participate in labor unions (about 20%). Meanwhile, there are significant amounts (almost half) of migrant workers who did not participate in the local election. Social capital attachment with hometown is stronger than the relationship with the workplace has such impact disclosed by , have cost that needs to   10 be paid. The absence of migrant workers from organization participation alienates non organization workers from information related to works. Also, this thing negatively impacts the environment around workers, especially related to power gaining to speak up workers' opinions and interests.
Most of the migrant workers have the hope of going back to their hometown. The wage they have gotten from working is saved as capital to open some venture in their hometown. They hope that their skill gained from working in the industry can help them to open the venture. On the other hand, lack of social networks outside of work impacted their lives. With broadening social networks, migrant workers can access urban-based workability and skills while working in the industry. Migrant workers cannot rely on their factory skills only because that skill can only benefit them if they have capitals and already reach some economic scale to run a similar venture. In this case, a skill gained from small scale industry (less than 20 workers) is more appropriate for rural areas with a smaller scale of activities.

Rural-urban linkage impacts
The discussion above tries to unravel component by component to determine whether rural-urban linkage that is caused by migrant workers in Semarang Regency can overcome rural-urban linkage or not. The first thing is the argument that the role of migrant workers is a link between rural and urban and helps the distribution profit of urban growth. Indeed, migrant workers become liaisons between rural and urban and help urban growth distribution toward rural areas. However, there are still many things to do to achieve and overcome the rural-urban divide. Even though some of the urban workers' income is channeled into rural areas, with a limited amount of money transferred and no young workers who actively develop rural areas because many of them become migrant workers, the remittance is just for family consumption, but less support to rural development. As Douglass [1] found on migration happened in Bangkok, it tends to remove rural-based networks. Rural areas experienced a lack of workers, especially in peak agricultural seasons. Also, the remittance from urban was not channeled into community infrastructure so that the urban workers' remittance cannot compensate workers leaving. Meanwhile, that remittance to home village decreased over time as urban-based obligations captured migrant workers. Meanwhile, workers' migration flow to urban areas is always continuing as an abundant "better" job available in urban areas. Instead of bridging the rural-urban divide, migrant workers flux is unconsciously widening the gap between those areas.
Meanwhile, on the side of regional development, industrial development has not yet moved from the "backwash effect" stage of urban development. Indeed, the industry sector absorbs labor force and produces some products that can be used for another production chain, but considering industry in Semarang Regency is dominated with garment industry as a footloose industry, capital gained by industries has a risk to be moved to another place. When the critical time comes, instead of categorized as an asset, the footloose industry is more concerned about causing crisis because of its weak attachment of their present location, as factor production availability is the most important thing for them. The garment industry did not have a long and robust attachment with local industry production chains in Semarang Regency, resulting in challenges for making this type of industry for regional development to overcome the rural-urban divide.

Conclusion
In the context of rural-urban linkage, the growth of the industry in the Semarang Regency has brought workers flow came and initiated regional transformation, which is more urbanized and becomes a linkage node between rural and urban areas. The reason for having a better opportunity to work and get a better quality of living promoted migrant workers, their families, and social networks to strengthen their social capital and migrate to the Semarang Regency. Migrant workers also provided remittance and job availability information for their family, friends, and relatives, supporting the new cycle of worker migration. Meanwhile, in most cases, industrial employment seems for migrant workers as jobs without the future due to its lack of carrier development guarantee. Establishing their venture in their hometown has become an opportunity by migrant workers as retire living, but lack of appropriate ability from working in the industry becomes a challenge. The nature and frame of migrant workers cycle detailed part of the Douglass model that depicts the case study context. Although the rural-urban linkage components could be limited, the reality is factual, which correlated as causal relations. Policies that influence the movement of migrant workers are still oriented on education and skill to fulfill the requirements of industrial jobs. Recently with low-skilled labor education and skill development focus, regional development's goal is to move forward from its early stage that causing backwash effects for rural areas still face challenges. To put migrant workers as the main role as agents to overcome rural urban divide means the regional development needs focus to prepare their skills and capabilities for working in the industry and strengthen their capabilities to develop their hometown area. Their hope to establish their venture in rural areas could become a possible path to developing an appropriate rural urban linkage that reduces the rural-urban divide.