Indonesia is preparing to deploy up to 500,000 skilled workers overseas, marking a significant shift away from the traditional reliance on domestic worker placements. The initiative, announced during the 2025 International Migrants Day commemoration on December 18 at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, underscores the government’s strategic focus on professional sectors that provide stronger protections and higher economic returns for Indonesian workers abroad.
Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, highlighted the government’s policy as a strategic move to increase professional migrant labor while reducing domestic sector dependency. “We are continuing to increase the number of professional migrant workers in the formal sectors while reducing reliance on domestic worker placements,” he said. Iskandar also extended greetings to Indonesian migrant workers worldwide, saying, “I wish all our migrant workers across the globe a happy International Migrants Day 2025. Indonesia is proud of you.”
President Prabowo Subianto has directed the government to produce as many skilled workers as possible, aligning their training with global labor market demand. The government is emphasizing formal-sector employment opportunities, including technical and vocational roles, to ensure migrant workers receive proper legal protection, higher wages, and safer working conditions abroad.
The event, organized by the Ministry for the Protection of Migrant Workers in partnership with B-Universe Media Holdings, recognized the critical role of Indonesian migrant workers as ambassadors of the nation and key contributors to national development and foreign exchange earnings.
Migrant Worker Protection Minister Mukhtarudin outlined comprehensive measures to empower and safeguard Indonesia’s overseas workforce. Key initiatives include:
- Expanding vocational training programs starting at senior high school level.
- Establishing “Migrant Villages” across all 38 provinces to prepare workers at the community level.
- Providing placement financing of up to Rp 100 million within five working days.
- Implementing 24-hour rapid-response services for complaints regarding protection and welfare.
- Offering comprehensive employment and health social security coverage for migrant workers.
- Full digitalization and data integration of migrant worker systems to streamline deployment and monitoring.
- Reducing placement processing time to 14 days, with job order verification capped at seven days.
- Enforcing accreditation requirements for recruitment agencies to ensure high service quality.
- Launching the “Safe Migrants” campaign to educate workers and stakeholders on proper preparation and safe overseas placement.
During the event, the government also symbolically sent off 1,035 Indonesian migrant workers to various countries, demonstrating the operational success of these programs and the country’s commitment to professional overseas employment.
With these measures, Indonesia aims to ensure that its migrant workers are not only skilled and competitive internationally but also protected legally, socially, and financially while contributing significantly to national development.