Government to Reopen 150,000 Paid Internship Positions with Minimum Wage-Level Stipends
The government has announced the Second Quarter and Second Semester 2026 Economic Stimulus Package, comprising eight policies under three main pillars. One key focus is an internship and vocational programme designed to improve workforce competency while stimulating economic activity at the community level.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated during a press conference at his office in Jakarta on Monday (22/6/2026) that the government will push for the implementation of the internship and vocational programme in the second half of 2026 to maintain national economic growth momentum. Manpower Minister Yassierli and Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi were also present.
"We will encourage this internship and vocational programme to be implemented in the second half of the semester so that it becomes a driver of the economy within the community," Airlangga said.
Under the stimulus package, the government has allocated Rp6.26 trillion, consisting of Rp4.14 trillion for the National Internship Programme targeting 150,000 participants and Rp2.12 trillion for vocational training. The vocational programme prioritises 220,000 vocational high school graduates and 50,000 workers affected by layoffs.
Manpower Minister Yassierli explained that the 2025 National Internship Programme (MagangHub) yielded positive results. The programme attracted 102,600 participants from 370,500 applicants, who were placed in 8,048 companies and government agencies across Indonesia. Participants received a stipend equivalent to the minimum wage, Work Accident Insurance and Death Insurance protection, mentor guidance, and the opportunity to obtain BNSP competency certification.
Based on a survey of 65,245 participants, 84.26 percent stated they were satisfied or very satisfied with the National Internship Programme. In terms of economic benefits, 67.13 percent of respondents said the programme helped or greatly helped the economic conditions of participants and their families. A survey of 7,217 host companies and agencies also showed positive results, with 84.13 percent expressing satisfaction or high satisfaction with the interns’ contributions.
"These are results we consider quite positive as feedback for implementing the second batch of internships," Yassierli said.
According to assessments by 22,297 mentors, 65.55 percent of participants experienced significant improvement in technical competencies during the programme. The assessments also indicated improvements in communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking, adaptability, and job-specific technical skills. "The average competency score of participants increased from 3.77 to 4.19 based on self-assessment, and from 3.33 to 3.66 based on mentor assessment," he noted.
In terms of employment absorption, the financial sector was the largest absorber of interns receiving job offers, followed by the wholesale trade and processing industry sectors. The health, information and communication technology, administrative services, and accommodation sectors also actively recruited graduates of the internship programme.
"This also serves as our commitment from the Ministry of Manpower to transparently convey the evaluation results. This is already from 85 percent of the internship participant data," Yassierli said. He affirmed that the ministry continues to strengthen the national vocational training ecosystem through training, competency certification, and training infrastructure enhancement.