Sad 1 Million Graduates Of Unemployed Undergraduates, DPR: Irony In The Middle Of The Indonesian Demography Bonus

Illustration: Photo: Doc. ANTARA

JAKARTA - Member of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Nurhadi, responded to the release of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) which reported that 1.01 million concerns in Indonesia were university graduates, aka undergraduates.

He felt sad that millions of highly educated people were unemployed when Indonesia headed to the peak of the demographic bonus in 2030-2045.

"More than 1 million unemployed scholars? This is a big irony in the midst of a demographic bonus which is said to be an opportunity for Golden Indonesia," said Nurhadi, Friday, July 4.

Nurhadi regretted that the allocation of trillions of rupiah for higher education did not guarantee the creation of a qualified workforce. In fact, the Government has allocated IDR 4.7 trillion for investment and increased infrastructure in academic State Universities (PTN), including practical equipment, laboratories, and training facilities.

Overall, the Government has allocated IDR 76.4 trillion for the education sector from the 2025 State Budget. According to Nurhadi, the Government has failed to align educated graduates with the readiness of the world of work.

"We are facing an absurd situation. The state spent trillions of rupiah for higher education, but the result was 'parking' so unemployment," explained the legislator from the East Java VI electoral district.

"This is not just a statistic number, this is a systemic failure! How long do you want this nation to pretend that they don't know that the link and match of education with the world of work is totally jammed?," continued Nurhadi.

This member of the Commission in the DPR in charge of employment affairs said that the determination of wages for undergraduate graduates who are not much different from high school graduates is tantamount to robbing citizens who want to earn a decent living with better quality of life. Instead of efficiency, said Nurhadi, this actually robs the intellectual dignity of undergraduate graduates.

"If a bachelor's degree graduate is forced to work with an equivalent wage for high school graduates, that's not efficiency, it's a seizure of intellectual dignity!" he said.

"Many scholars refuse to work not because they are lazy, but because of the world of work system we are harassing competence," added Nurhadi.

Nurhadi also emphasized that inappropriate salary, positions that do not match the academic background, and the orientation of companies that only want cheap labor are tantamount to seizing the basic rights of citizens.

"For this reason, the state must be present, not only to become a cruel market audience," he said.

According to Nurhadi, don't blame undergraduate graduates if they are reluctant to work in the regions because of the lack of decent living aspects in the midst of globalization.

The reason is, it is not their fault, but a country that allows inequality to continue every year.

"If the region is inhumane for life, don't blame young people who are reluctant to live there. The government should not just ask to move to the village, but the facilities for living in the village cannot reach their needs," said Nurhadi.

"Internet access, health services, shelters, transportation, it's all the responsibility of the state," he continued.

Nurhadi then gave a parable about how HR productivity is currently not accompanied by job preparation.

"We are currently harvesting undergraduates but the fields are empty! The government should have prepared long ago to empower young human resources in the country," said Nurhadi.

Therefore, the member of the NasDem faction of the DPR RI encourages the transformation of employment, which not only absorbs the amount, but is also efficient.

Nurhadi also reminded the government not to let young people with high education be dragged by any phenomenon of 'work', just because the system is unfair and the state fails to regulate competency-based employment opportunities.

"We will not stand still seeing the number of 1 million unemployed scholars. This is not just an economic problem, this is a social bomb, this is a form of neglect to the nation's golden generation," he said.

"The government must seriously make vocational education reforms, digital-based employment and future industries," concluded Nurhadi.

As is known, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) released a new report stating that the number of unemployed in Indonesia reached 7.28 million people as of February 2025.

Of this number, 1.01 million of them are university graduates or undergraduates.

The data was displayed by the Minister of Manpower, Yassierli when delivering his remarks at the Central Study National Seminar for INDEF 2025, Wednesday, July 2.

In the BPS data displayed by the Minister of Manpower, it was recorded that the unemployment rate in February was at 4.76 percent of the Indonesian workforce based on its educational status.

In the first ranks, the highest number of unemployed came from the education status of elementary and junior high school as many as 2.42 million people. In second place, there are people with high school education status of 2.04 million.

In the third position, vocational education contributed to unemployment as many as 1.63 million people, followed by university graduates as many as 1.01 million people. Finally, there was a diploma graduate with a contribution of 177.39 thousand unemployed people.