TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Labor Minister Hanif Dhakiri targets for Indonesia to stop sending non-professional workers in the informal sector overseas beginning in 2017. The target was based on a roadmap made by his predecessor, Muhaimin Iskandar, Manpower and Transmigration Minister for the United Indonesia Cabinet II under Susilo bambang Yudhoyono.
In the future, Hanif said, workers will only be able to practice in informal sectors that are in accordance with their expertise. "For example, a baby sitter should have the qualifications, salary standards, and others. When we send Indonesian migrant workers (TKI), they will be fully trained," said Hanif.
Hanif said informal laborers' occupations would be classified into five skills, which are drivers, cooks, babysitters, domestic helps, and elderly nurses. Once a person is set on one profession, he or she will not be allowed to take on other domestic jobs outside his or her expertise.
"This has been applied in Malaysia, that's why the number of TKIs we send there has declined," he said.
Later, he said, TKIs working abroad must be professionals albeit working in the domestic sector.
KHAIRUL ANAM | SAID HELABY
