Jakarta (ANTARA) - Manpower Minister Yassierli has emphasized the need for a fresh approach to address the increasingly complex challenges in transforming Indonesia’s labor market.In a statement received on Wednesday, the minister noted that simply adopting best practices from other countries is no longer sufficient.
“Indonesia must develop its own ‘next practices’—an approach that blends global best practices with the nation’s local wisdom,” he said.
Yassierli highlighted several urgent issues requiring immediate attention, including the need to strengthen the alignment between education, vocational training, and labor market demands.
“This is a constitutional mandate. Every citizen has the right to decent work and a dignified livelihood,” he affirmed.
He also drew attention to persistent labor issues such as unpaid wages, workplace discrimination, and unfulfilled severance or benefit obligations.
New challenges, he added, are emerging with the rise of platform-based workers in the digital economy, who require clear and adequate protection mechanisms.
“All of this underscores the importance of fostering healthy industrial relations and ensuring labor regulations are adaptive to current realities,” Yassierli stated.
He further stressed the need to move away from the outdated perception of workers as liabilities.
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According to him, workers must be recognized as national assets and sources of talent—especially amid rapid transformations driven by technological disruption, artificial intelligence, the green transition, and the growing influence of millennials and Gen Z in the workforce.
“Younger generations are not just working for income—they are seeking purpose. Surveys show that 24 percent are willing to leave a job if they do not find meaning in it,” he added.
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To that end, Yassierli emphasized that the future of employment requires a people-centered transformation, enabling young workers to innovate within flexible and meaningful work systems.
He also noted that future competencies extend beyond technical skills, encompassing learning agility, emotional intelligence, and design thinking.
