IT IS ESTIMATED that around the beginning of 2020, early adults aged 20 to 40 years will dominate the job market. The high birth rate in the baby boom era means that the population explosion in this century is unstoppable. This can be both an opportunity and a threat for us as the younger generation who are taking part in the so-called demographic bonus. If we can utilize this abundant energy, Indonesia will become a superpower like China or collapse with too many unemployed workers. The Millennial generation born around the 90s until now are the people who should be in control of the country's economic wheels in the era of the demographic bonus. We are the ones who bear the economic success or gloomy conditions that occurred in that era. Unfortunately, 40 percent of this total generation still has an elementary school education and less than 20 percent has a bachelor's degree. So it can be predicted that the majority of the Indonesian workforce is unskilled labor, aka uneducated workers.
If the majority of the workforce is uneducated, this will of course be a problem in driving the economy.
Especially in the digital era when technology is starting to replace uneducated labor. Of course, it is not uneducated workers who can drive the start-ups that are starting to emerge in Indonesia. So, how do we solve this problem? Indonesia needs to follow the example of China and Japan in utilizing its population to drive the wheels of the economy.
Hiroshima, which was destroyed in 1945, should have caused Japan's economy to plummet, considering that the city was the center of Japanese research. However, this was broken by Japan in the 60s with the displacement of Ford by Toyota in the American market. This is because the baby boom phase was successfully utilized by Japan after the Second World War. Infrastructure and education are fully facilitated by the Japanese government and the culture of kaizen, aka slow improvement, is promoted among the people. The population's high sense of nationalism also helps accelerate development.
China is no different, its population of more than 1 billion people has not caused it to collapse due to unemployment figures.
Business opportunities have been opened on a large scale by the government. Domestic businesses are strongly protected by minimizing imports and increasing barriers for foreign entrepreneurs to enter the market. This is also supported by the spirit of Chinese traders who have been hereditary for generations. Now, China is the country with the highest GDP in the world because of its use of human resources. So far, we have depended a lot on the oil and gas sector in the economy. Evidently, the oil and gas sector is the sector with the second highest income in the country's GDP.
In fact, oil and gas is not a sector that can be relied on in the long term. This is because oil and gas is not something that can be produced quickly and easily. Therefore, we need to lead our economy to sustainable industries and utilize the large number of unskilled labor we have. If not, there will be mass unemployment which will have a negative impact on the social sector.
Unemployment that is not addressed will cause social problems in society, ranging from crime, decreased interest in education, and increased prostitution. For example, South Africa had an unemployment rate of 26% in 2018. Their population is willing to "sell themselves" just for a bite of rice. Of course, if this becomes a compulsion, other deviant things will also be done to fulfill needs. Short-cuts such as gambling, selling drugs and even robbery will become commonplace. The business and industrial sectors are one of the roles that educated workers can take to create jobs for the demographic bonus era. The limited skilled labor in Indonesia cannot just wait and compete to grab the seats provided by other parties. If we only rely on employment opportunities provided by the government and the private sector, of course the rate of population growth will far exceed the availability of employment opportunities. And it led to a crisis that affected all levels of society. Starting a business early is one of the steps we can take as educated workers to prevent this problem from occurring in the future. Of course, by opening up job opportunities we are also helping the government in welcoming the successful use of the demographic bonus era. This has been proven by one of the digital start-ups that recently existed in Indonesia.
According to the 2017 BPS survey, unemployment in Indonesia fell by 508,000 people. Around 200,000 of them are partners of one of the online motorcycle taxi start-ups in Indonesia, Go-Jek. Apart from solving the problem of base taxis which spend 70% of their working time waiting, he also solves the problem of uneducated unemployment in Indonesia, because driving does not require a high school diploma or bachelor's degree.
Of course, it's not only motorcycle taxi drivers who feel the benefits. The presence of Go-Jek which provides other features such as Go-Food also tightens the belt of the street vendor and food industry. Reporting from the Industri.bisnis.com article, there are around 35,000 Go-Food Partners who have collaborated and are spread across 15 cities throughout Indonesia. Of course, it's not only motorcycle taxi drivers who feel the benefits. The presence of Go-Jek, which provides other features such as Go-Food, also tightens the belt of the street vendor and food industry. Reporting from the Industri.bisnis.com article, there are around 35,000 Go-Food partners who have collaborated and are spread across 15 cities throughout Indonesia.
The government also provides a lot of support for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit but have limited capital. This is proven by the existence of Student Creativity Program Competitions and Student Entrepreneurship Programs which are widely distributed in the world of education. Of course, the government hopes that many students will later become business owners who will help move the world economy.
Reporting from Beritasatu.com, there is another program supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with a youth organization called IYP (Innovative Youth Project) which has been held since 2011. "I appreciate the holding of this event which is a connectivity and networking forum Indonesia's leading young entrepreneurs, especially participants in the 2016 Outstanding Student for The World {OSTW) program," said Agus, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs. Of course, there is no longer any reason for us not to start entrepreneurship early. Apart from full support from the government, Indonesia also needs our roles as an educated generation to help move the wheels of the economy and overcome unemployment. So, what are the reasons not to start a business, guys? (Danang Rizky Nugroho)
Source: B-Magz FEB Unair vol-1
