It must be admitted that the labor force in the country continues to increase. Meanwhile, the growth rate of job opportunities has yet to match the number of workers. Inevitably, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have become the solution.
As is known, there are currently around 57 million MSMEs. According to data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, MSMEs in the country essentially absorb 97 percent of the workforce. The contribution of cooperatives and MSMEs to Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 56 percent.
Unfortunately, society now tends to look more toward the formal employment sector rather than the informal MSMEs. As a result, there are still many unemployed people in the country who are reluctant to become MSME entrepreneurs, or as the trendy term goes, entrepreneurs.
There is also a rise in hidden unemployment. This term refers to university and high school graduates each year who have yet to find employment. These newly graduated productive workers face uncertainty in securing a suitable job.
On the other hand, the influx of foreign workers can no longer be contained in the era of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) free market. This regional policy is considered to have further complicated the efforts of Indonesian graduates to obtain decent jobs. Besides the increasingly limited job opportunities, young people’s attempts to enter the business or entrepreneurial sector are hindered by difficulties in accessing capital.
The Chairman of the Smart Consumer Community Group (Pokmas Cerdas), Richard Manahan Saragi, stated that every year, Indonesian graduates from high schools (SMA/SMK), Diploma I, Diploma II, Diploma III, and Bachelor’s degrees always struggle to find employment.
If no solution is found, he continued, this productive generation will become a burden on the country, which will be difficult to address in the future.
"Therefore, the role of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), such as Perum Jamkrindo, is greatly needed to be proactive and directly engage with grassroots communities, especially young people or fresh graduates, to provide capital assistance and address employment issues," said Richard Manahan in Jakarta in early June.
Essentially, Richard continued, many young people or newly graduated productive workers in Indonesia have the willingness to enter the business and entrepreneurial world after completing their education. According to Richard, the MSME sector is one of the areas that young people can pursue. The problem, however, is that lack of access to capital and limited information dampens their enthusiasm.
"This is where the role of guarantee companies like Perum Jamkrindo is highly anticipated. Jamkrindo must indirectly target young people, especially educated youth who have just completed their studies, to build better businesses without being haunted by the threat of prolonged unemployment," he explained.
Looking ahead, Richard emphasized that if educated young people are not developed and only aspire to enter the bureaucracy and power sectors, the country’s economic burden and difficulties will continue to pile up.
"I think many SOEs operating in the credit or capital sectors can take concrete steps to build the nation's economy through capital, training, and youth development," Richard stated.
Therefore, he urged the government and relevant SOEs to provide facilities and be proactive in developing young people so they do not become unemployed.