Background

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has initiated Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Workforce Readiness & Development Project, funded by the J.P.Morgan Chase Foundation. This Project aligns with research findings and ILO’s learning that women are significantly under-represented in STEM workforce across ASEAN, even as industry 4.0 will create and require STEM skills and STEM jobs.

The Project thus aims to empower pre-employed female youth and employed female employees and support their career development. It collaborates with training/education institutions, private sector firms, and the government to achieve its goal. In Indonesia, the Project targets the automotive and ICT sectors, which are identified as high-growth sectors with significant skills mismatch.

In this Project, ILO is collaborating with Balai Besar Pengembangan Latihan Kerja – Bekasi – one of the best public vocational training centers in Indonesia – to deliver ICT skills training courses for in female only classes. The ICT skills training courses are web development, IT software solution for business, network professional and graphic design. These courses are selected based on a rapid assessment of ICT skills demand in Indonesia, conducted by the Project at the end of 2018. ILO and BBPLK Bekasi strategies are:

1. Demand-driven training courses;
2. Effective communication to reach the target group;
3. Support to target youth for exposure to the world of work and/or job placement, complemented with support to BBPLK Bekasi’s instructors for exposure to the latest technology trends and firms; and
4. Technical advice on gender neutrality in training.

In regards to exposure to the world of work, it is expected to happen through a series of activities, where youth and BBPLK Bekasi’s instructors can meet directly with private firms and have discussions with them on topics related to technical and soft skills required in ICT jobs, current trends in technology and how one can enter and stay in ICT fields after completing capacity building activities. The meet up event is organized to discuss possible series of activities with private firms in the ICT sector and/or those who require ICT skills. The ILO is engaging Tech in Asia to implement the meetup and career day events.

Objectives

The objective is to better understand the latest trends and recruitment needs in ICT-related skills and jobs in the different industries and to gauge possible collaborations between the ILO, selected private sector firms and BBPLK Bekasi. More specifically, the event’s objectives are:

• Connecting ILO with relevant decision-makers from ICT private sector firms to discuss ICT-related skills and recruitment needs.
• Discussing more about the latest technology trends and recruitment needs in ICT-related skills and jobs across different industries.
• Exploring possible collaborations between the ILO, private sector firms, and public training centers such as BBPLK Bekasi, especially on the transition of female youth from school to work in the ICT sector.