Jakarta (ANTARA) – Manpower Minister Yassierli said vocational education must equip students with skills and character that enable them to adapt to rapid changes in the labor market.
Speaking in Jakarta on Tuesday, Yassierli said artificial intelligence, industrial automation, and the green and digital economies were reshaping available jobs and employer skill requirements.
He urged vocational higher education institutions to update their education models so students develop adaptive skills aligned with labor market needs.
Yassierli said the global labor market was also shifting from degree-based recruitment toward skills-based hiring, with employers placing greater emphasis on practical capabilities.
Companies increasingly assess candidates based on competencies, portfolios and work experience, rather than relying solely on formal educational qualifications, he said.
Indonesia faces a similar mismatch, with some university graduates struggling to find jobs while industries continue to lack workers with needed skills.
The situation highlights the need to ensure students develop competencies that correspond with current and emerging labor market requirements.
Yassierli said diplomas remained important but were no longer the sole indicator of workforce readiness, as students also needed to demonstrate practical capabilities.
He urged the Polytechnic of Employment (Politeknik Ketenagakerjaan), or Polteknaker, to develop curricula and learning environments responsive to business and industry needs.
Core competencies should remain the foundation of vocational education but be complemented by cross-disciplinary skills suited to the changing nature of future jobs, he said.
Yassierli also called for creativity and innovation to become integral to learning, enabling students to develop ideas and solutions that generate value in the workplace.
He urged Polteknaker students to develop three qualities: strong core competencies, data-based social awareness and the courage to pursue innovative breakthroughs.
Yassierli said combining competence, social awareness and innovation would help students navigate future challenges and support Polteknaker’s goal of becoming a vocational education center of excellence.
He said strengthening those qualities would help vocational education produce graduates better prepared to meet Indonesia’s evolving workforce needs.
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Translator: Nur, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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