Nurses Want to Leave: A Surplus of Graduates or a Deficit of Appreciation?
Indonesia is facing a major paradox in nursing education and employment. On one hand, nursing education institutions continue to produce graduates in large numbers. On the other, many nursing graduates struggle to obtain decent, stable jobs that match their competencies. Simultaneously, the interest of Indonesian nurses in working abroad is strengthening. The question is no longer simply why Indonesian nurses want to leave. The more fundamental question is why the national health system has not been able to make nurses want to stay, develop, and be valued in their own home.
Government data shows this issue is not imaginary. The Ministry of Health once recorded, based on 2020 KTKI data, that there were 633,025 active nurses by STR, and by 2025 this is cumulatively estimated to be 696,217 people. The Ministry of Health also stated there is a surplus of nursing personnel that must be balanced by the absorption and utilisation of health resources. In fact, by 2026, the Ministry of Health and KP2MI stated that Indonesia is projected to face a surplus of more than 50,000 nursing graduates by 2029. The government also stated that currently only about 10 per cent of this potential is absorbed working abroad, so there is still 90 per cent potential that can be maximised through legal, structured, and protected preparation and placement. This figure reveals two faces of the problem. First, nursing education produces many graduates. Second, the state does not yet have a sufficiently strong system of absorption, distribution, protection, and career development to manage these graduates strategically.
Indonesia has a very large higher education ecosystem. Data from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, as displayed in the 2024 Higher Education Statistics Book, shows there are 4,416 universities, 33,741 study programmes, 303,067 lecturers, and nearly 10 million students. In an ecosystem this large, health education, including nursing, is one of the important clusters. The problem is that the growth of institutions and study programmes has not always been followed by a precise map of health workforce needs. Education runs on a supply logic: opening study programmes, accepting students, graduating bachelors and professionals. Meanwhile, the health system runs on the logic of budgets, formations, recruitment, personnel ratios, and the ability of health service facilities to pay workers. This is where the gap occurs. Campuses graduate students, but the job market does not always absorb them. Graduates are declared competent, but do not necessarily get decent jobs. They have an STR, but do not necessarily have career certainty. They pass the competency test, but still ask: where to after this? Thus, the surplus of nursing graduates cannot be read solely as a failure of the campus. It is a symptom of the lack of synchronisation of national policies between higher education, health workforce planning, health service financing, and labour market needs.
The desire of Indonesian nurses to work abroad is often explained simply: higher salaries. That explanation is true, but not sufficient. Behind the decision to leave, there are deeper issues: professional appreciation, clarity of career paths, job security, organisational culture, workload, opportunities for development, and professional dignity. Many young nurses see abroad not just as a place to work, but as a space for recognition. In several destination countries, nurses are treated as professional staff with clear clinical competencies, a more readable career structure, a better remuneration system, and more established job protection. Meanwhile, domestically, many nurses face contract work status, high documentation burdens, heavy nurse-to-patient ratios, limited career opportunities, and a professional bargaining position not yet commensurate with their responsibilities. Under these conditions, migration is not only an economic choice, but also a choice of dignity.
The government has indeed read the global opportunity. The nurse placement programme to Germany, for example, continues to run. In 2026, the G to G Germany scheme opens a need for 300 Indonesian nurses based on the 2026 KP2MI/BP2MI announcement. Previous programmes also showed needs in fields such as geriatric care, ICU, general wards, surgery, operating rooms, neurology, orthopaedics, and psychiatry. Besides Germany, the G to G Japan scheme also opens opportunities for nurse and careworker candidates with a D3 Nursing, D4 Nursing, or S1 Nursing plus Ners background. This opportunity is important. However, it must not be read singularly as a success of labour export. Nurse migration must be read more critically: are we sending superior professional staff to the global market, or are we releasing graduates because the domestic market has failed to absorb them with dignity?
Globally, the need for nurses is indeed very large. The State of the World’s Nursing 2025 report published by WHO together with ICN and partners noted that the global nursing workforce increased from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023. However, the disparity in nurse availability between regions and countries remains wide. This means the global market is open. Countries with ageing populations, long-term care needs, geriatric services, home care, rehabilitation, and chronic care will continue to need nurses. Indonesia has a great opportunity, but this will only be a blessing if managed with the right policies. The Ministry of Health and KP2MI in 2026 formed a Migrant Career Centre in 38 Ministry of Health Polytechnics as a one-stop service centre for students, alumni, and prospective migrant nurses.