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Experts underline risks of automation for Indonesia’s workforce
Indonesia should not only improve the skills of its workers but also change its educational system from as early as elementary school to minimize the impact of automation on the country’s workforce, a minister has said
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Indonesia should not only improve the skills of its workers but also change its educational system from as early as elementary school to minimize the impact of automation on the country’s workforce, a minister has said.
According to Research and Technology Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, the increasing presence of automation as a result of the growing use of digital technology could lead to higher unemployment and further widen inequality if nothing is done to improve the skills of Indonesia’s workers.
“Technology offers great opportunities for our economy. However, more people will be unemployed if they don’t learn the skills that computers or machines aren’t able to replicate,” Bambang said during a forum titled, Inequality in the Modern Era: Unresolved Questions, at the University of Indonesia’s (UI) School of Economic and Business in Depok, West Java, on Monday.
Speaking at the same event, SMERU Institute founder and former director Sudarno Sumarto said digital technology and innovation needed to be adopted into the country’s traditional curriculum from as early as elementary school to prepare the younger generation for a functional and useful labor force in the next five to 10 years.
“Quality education can no longer be measured merely by the memorization of textbooks but instead should be integrated with soft skillset training on subjects such as big data, fintech or e-commerce,” said Sudarno on Monday.
Furthermore, UI emeritus professor in economics Emil Salim predicted that Indonesia will soon the peak of its demographic bonus from 2025 to 2030, during which the working-age population could account for 70 percent of the total population.
“Indonesia will have 70 percent of its population falling under the category of the productive population starting in 2025 and the figure will stay relatively consistent all the way until 2036. If we can make the most out of the productive population, many Indonesians will be able to escape the middle-income trap,” said Emil.
Despite all the plans to reinvigorate Indonesia’s human resources, Bambang conceded that there was still plenty of work to be done.
Meanwhile, the World Bank’s senior economist in poverty and equity global practices, Suharnoko Sjahrir, pointed out that expanding the size of Indonesia’s middle-class population was vital in unlocking the country’s development potential and turning Indonesia into a high-income country.
According to the World Bank’s data, the middle-class population in Indonesia has grown from 7 percent in 2002 to 23 percent at the end of 2018.
“Almost half of the population have lifted themselves out of poverty but many of them lack the economic security to stay in the middle class in the long run,” Suharnoko said.
He added that middle-income parents should focus on providing quality education for their children so that the next generation could stay in the middle class or even move up to the upper class.
“There is still a wide gap between the qualities of Indonesia’s education and other nations. Based on our latest data, the average PISA Match score [measures the mathematical literacy of 15-year-olds] in Indonesia was 386. In comparison, OECD [Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development] averaged 490 and non-OECD countries averaged at 435.”
According to the 2016 World Economic Forum global report, which is the most recent one, Indonesia ranked 73rd in the Network Readiness Index and 115th in the Global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Index.
In comparison, Thailand and Malaysia were in 62nd and 31st position in the Network Readiness Index, respectively, and 82nd and 61st in the ICT Development Index. In ICT alone, Indonesia ranked seventh among ASEAN countries.
“It is estimated that as many as 75 million jobs worldwide will be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence by 2022. However, it is also predicted that there will be approximately 133 million new jobs by that time. In other words, the next generation of fresh university graduates need to start learning soft skills as well, so that they can capitalize on the new jobs available in the future,” Bambang said.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo previously said the government planned to focus on human resource development in its 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). (bry)
