Until today, Indonesia’s labor sector continues to face major challenges in terms of job quality and workforce skills. This is reflected in data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), which shows that 59.17% of Indonesia’s working population is employed in informal sectors, which accounts for 142.18 million people as of February 2024.
The issue of workforce quality is a key concern for the Wadhwani Foundation, an Indian non-profit organization focused on job creation and placement. Dr. Ajay Kela, CEO of Wadhwani Foundation, and Daniel Tumiwa, Vice President and Country Director of Wadhwani Foundation Indonesia, shared insights about the foundation’s profile during a media gathering held on Thursday (December 5) at the Multipurpose Room of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Library.
“Since 2014, Wadhwani Foundation Indonesia (WFI) has supported efforts to enhance the quality of job seekers and workers. Through the Wadhwani Skilling Program (WSN), we provide training to improve soft skills with a hybrid approach of face-to-face mentoring and digital platforms.
There are two types of programs: the first is for job seekers needing preparation to enter the workforce, and the second is for workers requiring upskilling to help them advance in their positions. Over the past decade, we have successfully partnered with more than 5,000 businesses to address the challenge of low soft skills among workers,” said Daniel.
According to the Indonesia Career Center Network, more than 55% of university graduates in Indonesia are not ready to enter the workforce due to a lack of soft skills. To address this, companies or employment agencies usually initiate training or seminar programs for their workers or organize internal training programs. However, not all institutions have the capital or capacity to do so, as organizing a training program requires significant funds.
In response to this situation, the Wadhwani Foundation recently launched a new initiative, the Wadhwani Charitable Foundation (WCF), which directly targets businesses and employers. WCF is a grant program provided by the foundation to employers to support upskilling training programs.
“To support industries, we provide grants ranging from USD 1 to 5 million (equivalent to more than 15 to 79 billion Rupiah) per year. The grant amount is determined based on the number of workers absorbed or employed by the business. Additionally, grant recipients are given flexibility in managing these funds, whether for initial program implementation or to scale up the program,” explained Dr. Ajay Kela.
This opportunity presents valuable prospects for businesses and employers in Indonesia. The grants offered by Wadhwani Foundation through WCF can be a crucial step in addressing one of the biggest challenges we face today, helping Indonesia become a country with a superior workforce both in quantity and quality. (*)
