CIDISS – In 2016, China was ranked 3rd as the biggest investor with an investment value of USD 2.665 million or 9 percent of total foreign investment in Indonesia. This value rose from 2015 amounting to USD 628 million or 2 percent of total foreign investment in Indonesia.
The increase in investment by China had an impact with the increasing number of workers from the Bamboo Curtain country who migrated to Indonesia. If investment from outside brings technology, it also requires skills from the workers.
Indonesia does not have much skilled and qualified workforce so the government has decided to open access to foreign workers. The foreign workers will later improve competitiveness, investment as well as Indonesian laborers can gain knowledge and skills from foreign workers.
To fill the shortage of skilled labor slots, the government was forced to allow foreign workers to enter Indonesia. However, government permits were not granted for a long time. the needs of foreign workers are regulated in detail in the Presidential Regulation Number 20 of 2018 concerning the Use of Foreign Workers, which still pay attention to domestic workers.
Presidential Regulation 20/2018 states that it will not be a rule for the entry of foreign workers without the capability of manual laborers, and that the decision of President Jokowi to issue presidential regulations to simplify licensing in Indonesia is complicated so that it often costs high and causes illegal levies.
Based on data from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, the number of foreign workers in Indonesia reaches 85,974 people, while the number of foreign workers from China reaches 24,804 people.
China has become the largest sending country of foreign workers in Indonesia, followed by Japan (13,540), South Korea (9,521), India (6,237) and Malaysia (4,603). Data from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration shows that most foreign workers are in professional positions (23,869), managers (20,099), directors (15,596), consultants (12,779), and technicians (9,144).
Through its Nawacita program, President Jokowi is building infrastructure in all corners of the country, which requires a lot of labor.
Based on current data, Indonesia still needs skilled workers so that the ideals of developing Indonesia achieved. If the problem of shortage of skilled workers is sustainable, it could threaten the sustainability of the Indonesian economy which is currently in a positive trend. One example is the lack of workers in the field of Information and Technology (IT).
This shortfall made the government finally import foreign workers from India for a while to fill the shortfall. While working, these Indian workers were asked to teach Indonesian local residents about their expertise in the IT field. So that later, local Indonesian people can become skilled IT personnel in the future.
The introduction of foreign experts also has an impact on budget savings from companies and countries. Because, one Indian would later be able to directly teach some people from Indonesia to become expert IT personnel.
Imagine, one foreign workforce would create 100 local jobs besides increasing domestic exports. with Thailand which also has the ease of permits for foreign workers, and with a ten-fold increase in foreign workers, its exports far exceed Indonesia.
The narrative of foreign workers who usurp jobs seems to be the main anxiety that arises in debates in society and on social media today. The issue seems to have only been used by certain interest groups to reduce credibility and public trust in the government.
But this is certainly not to worry about because there are already strict rules and controls from the government to oversee foreign workers in Indonesia. Local workers certainly do not need to worry because the government also continues to pay attention to jobs and decent welfare.
By: Anisa Medina (Observer of Social Politics in Jakarta)