Prabowo: One House Requires 5 Workers, Creating Millions of Jobs Per Year

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Prabowo Subianto stated that the government’s programme to build 1 million houses, currently being prepared, is not only intended to provide housing for workers but also to create millions of jobs every year.

According to Prabowo, large-scale house construction will absorb a significant workforce because each house unit requires at least five workers during the building process.

“Imagine, one house needs five workers, meaning every year we could create millions of jobs,” Prabowo said in his speech at the International Labour Day commemoration around the Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan area, Jakarta, on Friday (1/5/2026).

“This year we have already reached 350,000 houses, but our target is at least 1 million houses; we will start this year as well with 1 million houses,” he continued.

Prabowo said that the houses will later be built in clusters close to industrial areas and workers’ workplaces.

The government is also planning to build new cities, each consisting of around 100,000 apartment units.

“I have planned that we will build new cities. Each city might consist of 100,000 houses. 100,000 apartments,” he said.

In addition to housing, the areas will be equipped with education facilities, sports, daycare, hospitals, and public transportation such as light rail and buses to support workers’ mobility.

Prabowo also mentioned the high cost of house rentals that workers have been bearing so far.

According to him, the government wants to redirect that expenditure into instalments for owned homes with long tenures of up to 40 years.

Furthermore, he claimed to have instructed state-owned banks to distribute people’s credit with a maximum interest rate of 5 percent per year to support financing access for small communities.