TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Job opportunities for disabled people: A mission impossible?
The manpower minister said 5,825 people with disabilities were currently employed in the public and private sectors, out of a total of 16.5 million people with disabilities.
Change Size
Strong contributions: People with disabilities work at a cloth mask factory in Meruya, West Jakarta, on April 17, 2020. The 2016 Law on People with Disabilities requires companies to reserve 1 percent of work positions for people with disabilities. (JP/Donny Fernando)
“We have applied for jobs at several companies but there was no response […] We are blind people who don't have access to skills training. We don't know how to join a BLK [public vocational training center],” said Ahmad, not his real name, during a youth forum held by JobStart Indonesia recently.
Ahmad and four other blind youths from Makassar, South Sulawesi, are facing difficulties accessing skills training at a BLK. They are not sure a BLK provides training opportunities for people with disabilities either. BLKs have no training facilities for people with sight problems. In addition, the trainers are not well trained on how to handle people with disabilities.
Law No. 8/2016 on people with disabilities stipulates that companies must set aside at least 1 percent of the work positions it makes available to people with disabilities. However, few have complied with the law, arguing that people with disabilities are not productive.
The manpower minister said 5,825 people with disabilities were currently employed in the public and private sectors, out of a total 16.5 million people with disabilities.
Many companies are not even aware of the 2016 law on people with disabilities. There is a strong assumption, if not misconception, that people with disabilities are not competent for jobs that normally go to abled people.
In several observations of the companies that have implemented the law in Semarang, the capital of Central Java, and Sukabumi in West Java, people with hearing difficulties performed well. Companies do not allocate more funds to train them and to provide facilities. They just provide boards, on which supervisors write their instructions, so employees with disabilities can understand the regulations and standard operating procedures.
In addition, many companies are facing difficulties finding competent workers among people with disabilities to achieve the 1 percent threshold. Many employers believe that recruiting people with disabilities will add costs to their operations, not to mention extra spending on training and the provision of disabled-friendly facilities.
