Tourism graduates in high demand overseas
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Work experience and a high salary were the two main factors that motivated Agung, a final year student of the Sahid Tourism Academy, to apply for a job as a crew member of an Italian cruise ship.
"By working as a crew member on the cruise ship I'll get a lot of money and working experience. That's why I'm happy," said the 23-year-old with a big smile.
Agung, who will graduate in December, is one of around 300 graduates of the academy being recruited by Italian-based cruise ship company Costa Crociere. The company itself is a member of the Carnival Corporation Group, the largest cruise ship company in the world.
Before starting work on the cruise ship, all the recruited graduates will be trained by the Philippines-based PT Meranti Magsaysay.
"As a new employee (of the cruise ship) I will get around US$300 as basic salary and at least another $600 in tips. If I worked in a four-star hotel in Jakarta as a trainee, I'd only get Rp 27,000 (US$3) per day," said Agung, who takes the food and beverage program at the academy.
Once he finishes his contract on the cruise ship, Agung said he would be able to use his experience to apply for positions at any hotel.
Costa Crociere plans to recruit around 2,000 Indonesian skilled workers like Agung over the next four years.
"We have employed around 1,000 Indonesians for our ship. We are very pleased (with their performance) because they have good work attitude and easily socialize with others. Now, we will recruit another 300 people, and over the next four years we will recruit around 2,000 more," CEO of Costa Crociere, Pier Luigi Foschi, said during a tripartite signing ceremony on Thursday.
PT Meranti Magsaysay president director, Henry Djuhari, said that Indonesia has the potential to obtain greater foreign exchange income than that derived from its traditional exports or foreign direct investment (FDI), as many foreign companies worldwide have a very high requirement for Indonesian skilled laborers.
"The cruise industry (worldwide) requires over 150,000 crews, and the shipping and cargo industry needs around 600,000 personnel. Around one third of this requirement is filled by Filipinos, with Indonesia having only around 30,000 sailors in these industries. So, we still have a lot of vacant positions," he said.
Henry said the Philippines earned around $20 billion in foreign exchange annually from sailors alone, far from Indonesia's $5 billion over three years.
He added that Indonesia should be able to supply the same number of workers as the Philippines in the cruise and cargo industries, with the country's remittance income from sailors being in excess of the total value of Indonesian FDI.
The demand for Indonesian skilled workers -- including in other sectors such as gas and minerals, medical, and information sectors -- was confirmed by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration's Director General for Overseas Labor Placement, I Gusti Made Arka.
"Only 25 percent of the 2.2 million Indonesian workers overseas are skilled. This figure reflects the current condition of our labor force, in which the remaining 75 percent are elementary school graduates," he said.
He said the government would support training centers such as the Sahid Tourism Academy to improve workers' skills so they can be competitive in filling overseas positions.