Most companies go for dedication and loyalty

BANDUNG (JP): Most companies in Indonesia choose personality, dedication and loyalty over skill in their decision to hire workers, a senior official at the Ministry of Manpower claims.

Andi M. Sangadji, the Director General for Training and Productivity Affairs, told a seminar on Thursday that most company executives he talked to said that a worker's skill is secondary to the above factors because skill can be obtained through training.

Sangadji said that an apprenticeship program run by his ministry has modified its methods to also help develop a sense of loyalty and dedication among program participants, besides providing them with skills.

Speaking during a workshop to review the apprenticeship program with business executives in West Java, Sangadji underlined the benefits that companies stand to reap by taking part in the program.

He assured that after completing their apprenticeship, the participants will have developed strong loyalty for the company that provided the training.

The companies also benefit from their labor without having to pay them a full salary, he added.

The apprenticeship program runs for three years with participants spending at least 24 months working as a trainee. The government has enlisted 500 companies throughout Indonesia to provide the training.

The program is run from the government's vocational training centers found across the nation. It was introduced at 11 training centers in 1994 and 31 in 1995.

There are 154 vocational training centers managed by the Ministry of Manpower.

A training center in Lembang, near here, specializes in providing work experience in agro-based industries, with training in Japan.

Since 1993, the center has sent 1,673 apprentices in 27 groups to work in small and medium-sized Japanese companies for two years.

The first groups started to return in May.

Some of the 240 participants have since started their own company or gone to work for Japanese joint venture companies in Indonesia.

Ichiro Kudo, the head of the Jakarta office of the Japanese Association for International Manpower Development of Medium and Small Enterprises, said the association monitors the progress of the participants when they return to Indonesia.

The Lembang vocational training center provides participants with a Japanese language and culture course along with basic agriculture skills and knowledge.

The center is sending 102 participants to Japan this month. (03)