Decent work : on the quality of employment in Indonesia

Indonesia is on track to achieve the targeted 5–6% open unemployment rate by 2014. Since the country has been elevated to the status of a middle-income country by the World Bank and survived the recent Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008/2009, it could not afford to concentrate only on achieving the targeted unemployment rate by the end of President Yudhoyono’s second term in office. As this measure, in addition to the poverty rate, is the bottom line of deprivation, Indonesia should instead focus on the quality of those that have managed to escape the lowest threshold of deprivation. Emphasis should be placed on the quality improvement of employment, rather than mere reducing the unemployment rate. In essence, this is about achieving full and productive employment complemented with social security provision and freedom. These characteristics are in accordance with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) global campaign on decent work. However, when viewed from the last decade of macro employment data and related policy arrangements, Indonesia’s deficit on the decent work agenda and the quality of employment is evident.