‘Not enough jobs’: Indonesia’s 10 million Gen Z face looming unemployment crisis

Ferdy Susanto, a 23-year-old tech graduate in Indonesia, is feeling down on his luck. He has applied for at least 20 jobs in the past year but has yet to land one.

“It is very competitive … there are so many applicants but not enough positions,” Ferdy told This Week in Asia.

Ferdy graduated with a degree in web development from a university in his hometown of Bandung in West Java. To keep himself occupied and earn money while he continues his job search, he has been doing some part-time tutoring for high-school students.

“Some of my friends who did not get job placements right out of university are also struggling … now we will have to compete for jobs with the [new students] who graduate this year.”

Ferdy is one of at least 10 million Gen Z Indonesians – born between 1997 and 2012 – who are unemployed and not enrolled in any formal education or training programmes, according to a recently released report by Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

The report also found that unemployment among those aged 20 to 24 had been on the rise in recent years, climbing from 12.86 per cent in 2015 to 17.02 per cent in 2022.

This figure is significantly higher than the country’s average unemployment rate, which in February 2023 stood at 5.45 per cent, meaning that unemployment is particularly high for the younger age bracket.

Experts have cautioned that having so many young Indonesians being in a state of limbo – where they are not working or studying – could lead to demographic challenges and an unemployment crisis in the coming years.

According to Dewa Wisana, a demographer at the University of Indonesia, the country is currently experiencing a demographic dividend, with more than 70 per cent of its population in the 15-64 “prime working age” group.

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