Wamenaker Calls Vocational Training Take Advantage Of Demographic Bonus Opportunities

Deputy Minister of Manpower Afriansyah Noor. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Deputy Minister of Manpower Afriansyah Noor stated that vocational training will be able to take advantage of the demographic bonus owned by Indonesia, especially in terms of meeting industrial needs.

"This is because vocational training can be a solution to the low competitiveness of the workforce and unemployment in the era of digitization and job mismatch during the economic recovery period," he said as quoted by Antara, Sunday, March 26.

So far, said Afriansyah Noor, the government still has the task of answering a number of challenges as well as achieving opportunities to improve the competence of human resources (HR) in Indonesia.

The challenges in question are that informal labor still dominates, residents who are still affected by COVID-19 and the disruption of digital technology, which is marked by the industrial revolution 4.0.

The opportunity is that Indonesia will reach the peak of the demographic bonus by 2030 and create jobs that can be filled by Indonesian human resources through national priority projects.

"In responding to these challenges and opportunities, we need superior and competitive human resources," said Afriansyah.

Therefore, Afriansyah said, one of the efforts made to improve human resources is through vocational training because it has several advantages.

Among its advantages, namely the relatively short duration, the input of participants is not limited to a certain age, inclusive applies to all groups, is oriented to job placement, entrepreneurship and increased productivity.

Another advantage of vocational training is the flexibility of training programs towards changes in the world of work and teaching human resources are practitioners.

In addition, the vocational training program is also to the point for the competencies needed and can be combined with other social safety net programs such as Pre-Employment, KIP, PKH and BPJS.

He continued, currently vocational training is widely looked at by job seekers and also workers to obtain or improve competence or shifting competencies based on these advantages.

"This is because the vocational training can be a solution to the low competitiveness of the workforce and unemployment in the era of digitization and job mismatch during the economic recovery period," he explained.

Afriansyah said the government also carried out various collaborations with various parties to optimize vocational training, one of which was with Pearson Vue and Certiport.

The Ministry of Manpower with Pearson Vue and Certification opens up opportunities for cooperation regarding the identification of gaps and professional certification skills in Indonesia.