Attracting the Diaspora to Return Home

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Job seekers queue on July 6, 2018 at a job fair held at the Smesco building in Jakarta. The government has targeted a labor absorption rate of around 2 million people per year during the 2014-2019 term.

Digital transformation in almost all areas of businesses has encouraged local companies to find competent employees. The diaspora has been lured to return to Indonesia to support the business transformation.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Many companies are now engaged in digital transformation. To carry out the business transformation, they need skilled workers in digital technology.

A number of Indonesian companies integrating their businesses with digital technology are recruiting Indonesian citizens who have worked abroad. This way, the company can overcome the shortage of professional workers to remain competitive.

The associate director of jobs and recruitment agency Michael Page Indonesia, Imeiniar Chandra, said in Jakarta Sunday that that many Indonesian citizens working overseas wanted to work in Indonesia because they wanted to be closer to their families. In addition, they also saw Indonesia\'s economic condition had also become more promising.

Even so, Imeiniar added, Indonesian citizens who are willing to return to Indonesia must be prepared to face a culture shock and less competitive salaries. Recently, multinational companies and owners of large companies have used the services of Michael Page Indonesia to recruit Indonesian professionals who have worked abroad.

"Several companies owned by local conglomerates are engaged in digital transformation. They develop new divisions that need employees who have good skills in digital technology. This condition is new in Indonesia, compared to other countries, especially the United States, which transformed into the digital industry a decade earlier," Imeiniar said.

The trend of Indonesian citizens living overseas returning and working in the country has taken place since 2016. The rapidly growing number of technology start-ups in Indonesia has lured Indonesian professionals to return home.

Based on data from Robert Walters Indonesia, a recruitment agency for middle and upper level professional workers, Indonesian professional workers generally work in technology-related fields, such as software engineering and programming code developers.

Meanwhile, Bukalapak\'s head of talent, Engelbertus Panggalo recounted that the recruitment process of Indonesian diaspora abroad was running fast. Since its launch in 2016 until now, more than 100 Indonesian diasporas have worked at Bukalapak.

Program

To accommodate this trend, Michael Page Indonesia has a recruitment program called Developing the Country to attract Indonesian workers overseas to work in Indonesia. Michael Page has cooperated with

the Indonesian embassies in a number of countries to hold a presentation about the Indonesian economy.

Many local conglomerates and multinational companies in Indonesia are interested in recruiting Indonesian professionals overseas. Last year, three of the five professionals recruited by Michael Page were Indonesian citizens working abroad or Indonesian citizens who had returned to Indonesia. With their international experiences, they were recruited to fill in middle management positions.

Imeiniar said that there were around 50 Indonesians working overseas participating in the Developing the Country program and had successfully worked in Indonesia. They mostly had at least five years of work experience in Singapore, Australia and the United States. They are skilled in the fields of engineering, manufacturing, marketing, finance and digital technology.

"Because the culture of working abroad requires them to be open minded. They also transmit such a culture here. Their expertise is also very good," Imeiniar.

Robert Walters Indonesia, another local recruitment agency, has a program called Return Home. This program, which has been running since 2015, connects Indonesian professionals abroad with companies in Indonesia. These Indonesian professionals have long worked abroad and are willing to return to Indonesia to work. More than 50 people have worked in Indonesia through the program.

The head of LinkedIn and Southeast Asia’s brand marketing and communications, Linda Lee, said Industry 4.0 was supported by five technologies, namely internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, robotics and sensors, 3D printing technology and human machine interfaces. These five technologies drive the employment expansion.

Linda said, since 2018, LinkedIn has organized the LinkedIn Dream Jobs program which lists jobs, especially related to digital technology. LinkedIn cooperates with dozens of large companies in Indonesia to run the program.

The program was established to help outstanding young workers get their dream jobs even though they don’t have a network, and at the same time to help companies to get skillful young workers. (MED)