UNAIR NEWS – The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that as of February 2022, Indonesia’s unemployment rate was recorded at 5.83 percent of the total working-age population of 208.54 million people. What is staggering is that of the 5.83 percent, almost 14 percent are graduates of diploma and bachelor’s degree (S1).

This is an irony. Residents who have higher education to get decent jobs are unemployed. Alfeus Nehemia, Head of Human Capital from PT Praweda Ciptakarsa Informatika explained several reasons.

Skills do not meet requirements

Alfeus said that as a human capital officer he is often faced with a difficult position to find people suitable to be employed according to the expected qualifications. Many of the applicants offer skills that are irrelevant or not needed by current employers.

“If you say it’s hard to find work, we as a company also say it’s hard to find employees. It happens due to a mismatch between the required and available skills,” said the 2009 FISIP UNAIR International Relations alumnus.

High income and status expectation

When graduating from a prestigious college, it is not uncommon for someone to have high expectations of getting a high-paying job easily. The expectations have made several graduates from these prestigious universities too confident by labeling themselves with high fresh grades even though they do not necessarily have proper competence.

“Companies don’t only look at your school’s alma mater, but we also see what kind of competence you have, whether you deserve big pay or not,” he explained in the Career Buddy Webinar of the DPKKA x JobHun Program, Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Limited employment providers

Limited employment opportunities is one of the reasons for much unemployment. It was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused massive layoffs. The unemployment rate is higher than the existing vacancies.

“Almost 29.12 million working-age people have been affected by the pandemic. Maybe they have recovered a bit, but it is important to remember that new graduates waiting to get a job increase every year,” he said.

Therefore, he continued, the challenges for the young generation to find jobs after the pandemic are even more difficult. “Because they have to compete with thousands of people for less and less job opportunities,” he explained. (*)

Author: Ivan Syahrial Abidin

Editor: Binti Q Masruroh