The rapid development of oil palm in Indonesia has ushered in this commodity plays an important role in the economy in Indonesia. In 2016, oil palm accounted for 10.9% of non-oil exports and absorbed 5.3 workers consisting of 2.1 farmers and 3.2 oil palm employees. Nevertheless, the rapid development of oil palm raises concerns about the dominance of oil palm plants which can damage the environment and reduce plant diversity. This paper aims to examine the development of oil palm in South Sumatra and its contribution to employment in rural areas. The research data is sourced from BPS and the Republic of Indonesia Plantation Department. Data analysis was carried out by mapping and descriptive tables. The research data shows that oil palm was a minor plant in 1980, then continued to grow and became dominant in 2018. In 1980 oil palm land area of only 5,000 ha then increased to 900 thousand ha in 2015. The explosion of oil palm development occurred after the reform era caused by the rapid development of smallholding oil palm. Domination of rubber and oil palm plantations in South Sumatra caused an increase in households in the plantation sector in South Sumatra. During the 10-year period (2003-2013) the plantation sector's household increased by 64.9%, from 631 thousand households to 733 thousand households. The opposite happened to the national agricultural sector workforce which declined from 31.3 million in 2003 to 26.1 million in 2013.