Jobs for all?

Contrary to the stereotype of the frustratingly slow pace of civil servants' offices, is the ferocious race to get the few available jobs in those offices. This week, 4.5 million applicants took part in the nationwide civil service recruitment test, competing for only 200,000 jobs or so across all government institutions. Those who fail will try again next year, and the next. Those who pass may thank their lucky stars, while knowing too well that the journey to secure full employment status, and thus a full wage, has only just begun.

Even making the first step toward what many still perceive as the assurance of lifelong stability, in terms of a steady income -- however small -- is heaven sent. With such perceived stability, and a guaranteed pension, the civil servant is a coveted son or daughter-in-law. Families have been known to resort to selling precious plots of land, to be able to pay tens of millions of rupiah in bribes to get a job that pays a few hundred thousand rupiah a month.

Ahead of Wednesday's examination, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab pledged that the procedure for this year's test -- the first ever to be held simultaneously throughout the country -- would be "free of corruption, collusion and nepotism"; yet these practices are all too familiar to many a civil servant seeking to climb their way up, once they have made it past the entrance gate.

Minister Alwi maintained that things, for the most part, went smoothly.

However, true to tradition, reports surfaced of pretenders among the applicants, providing those who had paid for the service with the answers. Moreover, copies of answer sheets were apparently in circulation, sold in a number of places for around Rp 250,000.

The day after the test, surat sakti ("magic memos") appeared -- supposedly from VIPs to recommend an acquaintance among the legion of applicants.

In East Java, thousands of applicants went home disappointed as the test in most areas was delayed -- due to the feeble excuse that the test sheets had arrived late from the printers.

Critics questioned the apparent lack of seriousness on the part of the government amid the high hopes of applicants. One observer blamed the overenthusiasm of the new administration to prove it was living up to expectations of its first 100 days, to the extent that it violated the law on civil servants, which rules against the centralization of the recruitment process.

Glitches aside, such a surge of applicants for so few jobs was a terrifying prospect, though far from unexpected. The 200,000 civil servants' positions promised are a paltry contribution, considering the need to fill over 10 million jobs as soon as possible, excluding the legions of people living on a meager income, under the poverty line.

Many of the available jobs in the civil service are only vacant due to retirements -- as the government has long proclaimed "zero growth" in the bureaucracy, signaling to every job seeker that one cannot rely on the civil service alone for work.

Job creation was the campaign mantra of all presidential candidates and aspiring legislators this election year. Among the promises of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- the first Indonesian president directly elected -- were efforts to provide jobs through, among others things, reviving the manufacturing and service industries, along with working toward an initial annual average of 6 percent economic growth.

Much has been said of the prerequisites for recovery and job creation, not least a conducive business climate that rests on certainty, thus encouraging entrepreneurs to take measurable risks. The massive turnout for the test for the very few opportunities in the bureaucracy is yet again another reminder of how urgent and how soon such certainty is needed.

For their own part, people are not hanging on their leaders' promises alone. Many have sought work overseas, despite known hazards, and, in the absence of unemployment benefits in some developed nations, will do almost anything in a bid to support themselves and their families. Among them would likely be millions who voted for the nation's new leadership, and it is with fervent expectations that we await the implementation of the President's plans to address the issue of jobs.