Government Allocates Rp 4.14 Trillion for Internship Wages for 150,000 Fresh Graduates
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, stated that the government is preparing various programmes to improve workforce competency, ranging from internships for fresh graduates and vocational programmes to retraining for those affected by layoffs (PHK).
He assessed that strengthening human resources (SDM) is essential to increasing national economic competitiveness amidst technological changes and evolving industrial needs.
“Indonesia actually grew by 5.45 per cent in the first semester, the highest in the last 13 years. Indonesia has also managed to maintain growth above 5 per cent over the last 13 years, and we have successfully kept inflation relatively low at 2.8 per cent. Consequently, the President is pushing for the strengthening of human resources,” Airlangga said in a statement on Sunday, 30 August 2026.
One of the efforts encouraged by the government is an internship programme for 120,000 to 150,000 fresh graduates to gain six months of industrial work experience. This programme is supported by government-funded wages, with a prepared budget reaching Rp 4.14 trillion.
In addition to targeting university graduates, the government is also preparing a vocational programme for 220,000 vocational high school (SMK) graduates to facilitate their entry into industry. The government has allocated a budget of Rp 2.12 trillion for this programme.
On the other hand, the government is also preparing retraining programmes for individuals affected by layoffs. This training is aimed at ensuring that workers who have lost their jobs can meet domestic labour demands or find opportunities to work abroad.
According to Airlangga, strengthening human resources is becoming increasingly important alongside technological developments, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), which is projected to bring significant changes to various economic sectors.
“AI is one of the upcoming industrial revolutions. After Industry 4.0, we are moving towards AI, and the applications of AI are extraordinary across various sectors. Therefore, these are some of the game changers ahead,” he said.
The government has also begun building human resource capacity to support the development of the semiconductor ecosystem through cooperation with Arm Limited, one of the leading companies in semiconductor design. Through this collaboration, Indonesia aims for 15,000 participants to receive training to enter the semiconductor ecosystem.