Where are we now on promoting equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities?

Two years ago, my team and I examined the enforcement of one per cent quota (1 per 100 workers) under the Law No. 4/1997 on Disabled People. We examined what we had done and what we had not done. We realized that we haven’t had sufficient programmes to promote disability issues. We need to do more and to date some progress have been made and more employment doors have begun to open for people with disabilities.

What progresses have been made so far?

Government of Indonesia is committed to promote equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In addition to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises on Placement and Vocational Training for People with Disabilities at the state-owned companies in December 2015, the government will open employment opportunities as civil servants for people with disabilities. These initiatives aim to showcase that the government has opened its door to inspire more and more companies in the private sector to do the same.

We also continue to raise the awareness of relevant constituents from, among others, the Manpower offices in the provincial and district levels, enterprises, trade unions, disability organizations, and mass media through a series of interactive talk shows about the rights of people with disabilities as well as their untapped talents and potentials since two years ago. So far we have done these activities in eight provinces known as industrial areas, and we would do another four provinces in 2016. Through these interactive sessions we also learn more about challenges and concerns from the companies.

What are the challenges faced by the companies for recruiting and hiring people with disabilities?

We learnt that it is not easy for companies to find competent workers with disabilities. Some companies that are already committed to employ workers with disabilities have faced difficulties in finding workers with disabilities who have required competencies. Therefore, the Ministry of Manpower initiated a programme to match the supply with demand by developing a linkage between government’s jobs network with online jobs network for disability such as DNetwork as a way to provide better access to employment.

Another effort is to encourage companies to create jobs that are suitable for people with disabilities. For example in Pekalongan, a local company hires a person with physical disability to be an administrative staff or other company hires a person with disability to be a data collection staff. I believe if there is a will, there will be a way.

Any other concerns from companies on disability?

The main concerns are mostly on cost and benefit. I have received questions on the high cost that should be borne by the company to adjust or even to renovate working premises, the need for intensive trainings and productivity. Yet, with support from the ILO, we educate companies that workplace adjustment is not expensive. There are ways to make this low-cost or even budget-free. And, in the contrary, the productivity of workers with disabilities are the same or even higher than other workers in some positions.

What is next as the future strategy to realize equal opportunity for people with disabilities?

We continue to empower Manpower Offices at provincial and district levels through the Disability Equity Training (DET) using the ILO’s manual as they act as the frontline on the placement of workers with disabilities. We also continue to empower people with disabilities on entrepreneurship by developing a partnership with local NGOs, community organizations, etc. We promote products made by people with disabilities through a Disability Expo. Since last year, we have combined the organization of the Expo with Job Fairs to attract more people visiting the expo and raise the public awareness about businesses run by people with disabilities.