The upskilling and reskilling programs are an increase in skills or abilities, respectively. Meanwhile, the reskilling program is a training program for new abilities that workers do not yet have. Changes in industrial needs have triggered the need for the implementation of these two programs. The previous article discussed the imbalance between the opportunities the two programs available and the responses from workers. In this article, we will discuss the support by the public sector for these two programs.
The public sector is the economic sector that provides various government services to the public. These services cover the fields of the military, police, public transportation, education and health. In Indonesia itself, the public sector generally includes government institutions and state-owned enterprises (BUMN).
What does public sector need to do to improve the skill of workers?
In implementing the upskilling and reskilling program, the public sector needs to provide even stronger support for workers. Especially, those who are threatened of losing their jobs or having been laid off. However, according to data by the World Economic Forum, only 21% of businesses report that they have successfully used public fees to support the implementation of this upskilling and reskilling program for their workers.
The public sector will certainly need to create new incentives or special compensation beyond the main salary for its workers. This aims to stimulate and encourage these workers to be more active in their work and improve their work performance. This incentive is useful as an investment both in the market and in future jobs. One of them is as a safety net for workers who are in threatening condition of losing their jobs.
This also helps to deal with the improvement of the education and training system that has been long overdue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it is important for local governments to consider the long-term implications of the labor market in maintaining, withdrawing or continuing some of the strong support for the COVID-19 crisis that they have provided to support wages and keep jobs in most developed countries.
