The unemployment rate in Jayapura City, Papua Province, is currently decreasing in line with the expansion of the New Autonomous Region in Papua Province, West Papua. However, the availability of jobs is still not proportional to the productive age population in the city of Seribu Pinang who need jobs.

The Central Statistics Agency of Indonesia recorded the number of labor force in Jayapura City in 2021 as many as 153,900 people, the majority of whom were 25-29 years old.

As for the same year, the number of working population in Jayapura City was 135,939 people, with a composition of 62.98 percent men and 37.02 percent women.

Head of the Jayapura City Central Statistics Agency, Jeffry Defretes, said that the opening of job opportunities is one of the solutions to reduce unemployment and improve regional economic conditions.

Opening a job is not an easy task, but it does not mean that it cannot be done. In fact, this is a shared responsibility, both the Government, companies, and the community.

One way to expand job opportunities for Jayapura City residents is to increase investment in the region. Therefore, the local city government must also encourage the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises and provide job training to improve the entrepreneurial ability of the community.

Improving the entrepreneurial ability of the community can be pursued through the opening of business access and marketing of local products. In addition, it can also be through education and development of the creative industry

The Jayapura City Manpower Office noted that there are around 220,000 citizens of productive age. This figure is equivalent to 53 percent of the 413,000 total population in the capital city of Papua Province.

Upskilling

To reduce the unemployment rate in Jayapura City, the local Manpower Office continues to conduct various trainings to prepare skilled human resources who are ready to work.

Head of the Jayapura City Manpower Office, Djoni Nah, said that before conducting the training, his party identified the needs of the job market to find out job opportunities and labor needs.

This is done so that skills training is adjusted to the budget, and most importantly, after the training, participants can be immediately placed in the workplace.

The Jayapura City Manpower Office also prepared a micro sector work plan involving several trade service companies and the industrial sector. In addition, the micro, small, and medium business sectors are also involved in it.

This method is to compile and analyze the needs of the job market from the micro and macro sectors. For the macro sector, the ability to analyze the needs of the job market from various regional apparatus organizations within the relevant Jayapura City Government was carried out. There are 11 sectors, including trade, tourism, plantations, agriculture, transportation, information, and communication.

“From that side, we see the need for labor that the company is currently requesting, such as security personnel,” he said.

For 3 consecutive years, the Jayapura City Manpower Office has conducted security training and

all participants – more than 200 people – have been absorbed in the world of work, such as to Wamena, Mountainous Papua, Merauke, South Papua, and outside Papua.

The second skill training is in the automotive sector, especially for heavy equipment vehicles and motorcycle light vehicles for workshop businesses.

In the training, a competency test was carried out directly so that job seekers could have a national standard certificate so that it could be used in the world of work, not only in Jayapura City but outside Papua Province.

In the future, his party plans to conduct job training in the hospitality service sector. This is related to the rapid development in Jayapura City that requires educated personnel in the hospitality and restaurant sectors.

Efforts to reduce the unemployment rate, such as training, continue to be carried out so that job seekers do not only think about becoming state civil servants, because in Papua there are actually many jobs, both in the formal and informal sectors.

Currently, the unemployment rate in Jayapura City has decreased with the expansion of the New Autonomous Region in West Papua. This is seen from the number of yellow card management at the local Manpower Office, which every year decreases.

Job seekers who take care of Job Seeker Identity Cards until July 2024 are 500 cards. This number can be reduced. Because there is the appointment of state civil servants to the new autonomous regions and also the sending of security workers to the provinces in the Land of Papua.

The unemployment rate in Jayapura City before the expansion of the New Autonomous Region was 12-13 thousand people, but in 2023 or after the New Autonomous Region drops to 10,500 people.

The number of job seekers registered with the Directorate of Labor as of December 2023 was recorded at 10,173 people, consisting of 5,282 indigenous Papuans and 4,891 non-Papuans

Public interest

In order to easily get a job, job seekers and prospective entrepreneurs must have qualified skills to be able to seize opportunities in competition between job seekers or businesses.

In Papua Province, especially Jayapura City, residents’ interest in improving their skills and employability is quite high. They can register to take part in job skills training organized by the Papua Provincial Job and Industry Training Center

However, the Papua Job Training and Industry Center is sometimes forced to reject applications from prospective trainees because the available resources are insufficient to accommodate all interested parties

Every year many residents register, but the Job and Industrial Training Center is only able to accommodate 400 participants because it has to adjust to the availability of the budget

To overcome these limitations, BLKI Papua implements several strategies to increase job opportunities, among others, by holding various trainings through internships and job placements for participants. In addition, it conducts entrepreneurship counseling, provides employment information facilities, and organizes job fairs.

Head of the Cooperation and Marketing Relations Section of the Papua Provincial Job and Industry Training Center, M. Nadjib, said that the average alumnus participating in job training at BLKI Papua managed to get a job, and could even create jobs.

This achievement encourages the Job Training and Industry Center to be more enthusiastic about preparing prospective skilled workers in the region.

One of the participants in the security personnel training held by the Jayapura City Manpower Office in September 2023, Victor Stendy Pasanea, said that after attending the 2-week training, he received an education diploma, a security guard member identification card, and security equipment. This makes it easier for participants to find a job.

Victor, who now works as a security guard in the PTC Entrop Jayapura area, South Jayapura District, admitted that the training helped him get a job.

Victor’s success proves that the provision of skills from the results of the training makes it easier for a person to get a job.