INDONESIA is facing a serious problem of lack of job creation. There is a large gap between high investment and the creation of new jobs. If it is not addressed immediately, it will become a serious problem in the future. High investment and economic growth are actually accompanied by high unemployment rates.
Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that in the last ten years, the value of investment entering Indonesia has continued to increase. On the other hand, the resulting job creation is still minimal. In fact, it continues to decline.
For comparison, in 2013, an investment of IDR 1 trillion could absorb 4,594 workers. However, in 2021, investment of the same value can only absorb 1,340 workers. This figure will decrease again in 2022, when it can only absorb 1,081 people from an investment of IDR 1 trillion.
This fact means that the very high annual investment realization is unable to reduce the unemployment rate. In 2021, incoming investment will reach IDR 901.2 trillion and in 2022 it will increase 33 percent to IDR 1,207.2 trillion. However, this does not automatically absorb significant labor to reduce the unemployment rate. The open unemployment rate (TPT) as of August 2022 reached 5.86 percent. If detailed, there are 8.42 million unemployed spread throughout Indonesia.
