Page 17 - e-KLIPING KETENAGAKERJAAN 19 NOVEMBER 2019

Title SKILLS TRAINING GOOD FOR VOCATIONAL GRADUATES, FIRMS
Media Name thejakartapost.com
Pub. Date 19 November 2019
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/11/19/skills-training-good-vo cational-
Page/URL
graduates-firms.html
Media Type Pers Online
Sentiment Positive

The government's skills-training program not only benefits vocational graduates but also
companies that need ready-for-work employees in the country.

For Huda Purnomo, a 23-year-old vocational high school (SMK) graduate, industry training
was the bridge to a better future.

"I received many benefits participating in an apprenticeship program because it allowed me
to be employed as well as being a student [during mentorship]," said Huda, who had
previously participated in a skill training center (BLK) in Bekasi, West Java, and was then
hired by Swiss-based escalator and elevator manufacturer PT Berca Schindler Lifts.

Huda said he was hoping for a better future upon being asked the reason why he would
join such a company. "More than half of my fellow SMK graduates have yet to be
employed," he added.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), SMK graduates had the highest rate of
unemployment in the last three years. The open unemployment rate of SMK graduates
reached 8.63 percent this year, 8.92 percent last year and 9.27 percent in 2017.

The public-private initiative in vocational studies is part of the government's effort to
provide better-qualified workers, whose skills match industry's needs as President Joko
"Jokowi" Widodo centers his programs on human capital development.

On Friday, Berca Schindler agreed to team up with BLK Bekasi and the Manpower Ministry
to provide SMK graduates with an apprenticeship program. The program would focus on
boosting workers' skills in the installation and maintenance processes of the escalator and
elevator industry for a period of two years.

Berca Schindler CEO Thibaut Le Chatelier said the company, with its double-digit revenue
growth in the country, aimed to employ more vocational graduates to expand the business.

"Double-digit growth means that we need many people. We launched this program two
years ago to get the best people we can," said Chatelier during a press briefing in Jakarta
on Friday. He, however, declined to disclose the company's revenue and profit.

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