Indonesia to expand internship programme coverage: minister

“The key is that internship placements must be evenly distributed, as requested by Commission IX. They should cover western, central, and eastern Indonesia, not be concentrated in Jakarta,” Manpower Minister Yassierli said in Jakarta on Thursday.

He added that expanding the program’s coverage is important to help reduce Indonesia’s open unemployment rate (TPT).

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the TPT stood at 4.74 percent in November 2025, down 0.11 percentage points from August.

“The commission hopes this internship program can help reduce unemployment. Regions with higher unemployment should receive a larger share of placements,” he said.

Yassierli also urged companies to expand the range of job sectors in the program.

“We do not want all participants concentrated in one specific technical or management field. This is something we must monitor as we roll out the 2026 program,” he said.

The minister has proposed increasing the program’s quota to 150,000 participants, up from 100,000 last year.

“We are proposing this due to the strong enthusiasm. However, it is still a proposal,” he added.

Related news: Indonesian govt offers incentives for internship certification support

Related news: Minister urges National Internship partners to hold competency tests

Translator: Arnidhya, Kenzu