Companies Proposed to Be Obliged to Absorb National Internship Participants

Jakarta (ANTARA) - A member of the Indonesian House of Representatives’ Commission IX, Gamal, has proposed regulations requiring companies to absorb national internship participants organised by the Ministry of Manpower as employees.

Gamal, during a working meeting with Manpower Minister Yassierli at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday, proposed that companies implement mandatory recruitment of at least 20% of the total internship participants.

“So, the government would require companies participating in the internship programme to absorb at least 20% as employees. This way, from this year’s target of 150,000 participants, at least 30,000 would become employees, and this could help reduce the unemployment rate,” he said.

He stated that this scheme has been implemented in Germany.

“They (Germany) have managed to convert a ‘takeover rate’ of internship participants at 79% because it involves obligations from the private sector, both in terms of curriculum and the educational process provided,” he said.

He hopes that the government will no longer merely focus on the retention rate of internship participants to complete the programme until the end, but also on the takeover rate of internship participants becoming employees.

In addition to the mandatory recruitment scheme, Gamal also proposed that the government implement a dual education system in the national internship programme.

“So, companies would be required to be involved in the curriculum or funding, so that internships are not just cheap labour, but an investment in talent. This way, the takeover of internship participants as permanent employees would increase significantly,” he explained.

Manpower Minister Yassierli said that the national internship programme is designed to enhance participants’ competencies and introduce them to the world of work.

However, he acknowledged that the absorption of interns as employees also needs to be considered.

“I agree, we should be oriented towards absorption in the workplace,” he said.

Meanwhile, regarding the technical proposals from the legislator, Yassierli said he would consider them.

“There were several technical inputs earlier; we will use them as a reference for preparing the 2026 programme. There were inputs regarding the obligation for companies to accept a certain percentage and so on. According to us, we will follow up on that. We will study it together,” he said.