Conditions and Challenges of Disabled Workers in Indonesia
The PRAKARSA held a public discussion and launched a disability employment research entitled “Persons with Disabilities in the Workplace: Conditions and Challenges in Indonesia as a G20 Country” which was held online, on Tuesday (19/4).
This activity was opened by Victoria Fanggidae as Deputy Director PRAKARSA. Victoria explained, this research was a collaboration between PRAKARSA with the Ministry of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia which is based on the same concern regarding the conditions of employment with disabilities in Indonesia.
"There are still many obstacles and discrimination faced by our colleagues with disabilities to carry out their functions as fully human beings, namely in education and also in the world of work," said Victoria.
The results of this research are expected to be the evidence base to be presented at the G20 forum held this year in Bali and at the same time become the material for advocacy of various parties and employment policies for persons with disabilities in Indonesia for the realization of inclusiveness in every aspect of life.
This research found the fact that the workforce with disabilities is dominated by workers from villages with low education, "For example, from the type of visual disability, as much as 54,28% of the workforce comes from villages and 45,72% comes from cities," said Dermwan Prasetya , as a Social Policy Researcher PRAKARSA.
Absorption Rate of Disabled Workers in the Labor Market
Furthermore, Darmawan explained that only 7.8 million (43%) of the disabled workforce are already working. And based on the type of work, 30% of them are self-employed workers, 26% are temporary workers, 18% are employees/laborers, 6% are casual workers in agriculture, 4% are non-agricultural workers, and 13% are unpaid family workers.
Meanwhile, in terms of gender, Darmawan stated that the workforce with disabilities was dominated by men at 57,83% and women at 42,17%. "However, if we look more deeply, from the disparity in the number of women with disabilities, the female workforce must accept double discrimination in the form of work participation and low wages when compared to men," he said.
More importantly, Darmawan continued, this research also found the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly affect the condition of the disability labor market when viewed from the perspective of labor absorption. However, in terms of wage receipts, as many as 47,85% of workers from each disability group experienced a decline.
"This is the highest percentage when compared to the decline in wages in conditions before the pandemic," said Darmawan.
From these data in more depth, it shows that even though from a policy perspective it is considered advanced because Indonesia has ratified many international agreements, but there are still other problems in their implementation.
“Such as the low level of education of persons with disabilities, the absence of recruitment guidelines for all types of disabilities, the low understanding of disability issues in all sectors, both companies and ministries or institutions, the implementation of the disability worker quota policy has not been optimal as well as the absence of a quota monitoring system, job information that is not inclusive, community stigma against disability capabilities, lack of social protection and career networks, and the inadequacy of other supporting infrastructure or work accessibility for disabled workers,” explained Darmawan.
From these conditions, Darmawan also said, PRAKARSA encourage the government to guarantee basic infrastructure for workers with disabilities, carry out monitoring of minimum quota recruitment, provide assistance and support to companies in employing disabilities, and provide inclusive job training.
On this occasion PRAKARSA presenting various parties from employers and the government to become responders in this discussion, including Suhardi from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower, Nuryaman from the South Sulawesi Province Manpower and Transmigration Office, Himawan Estu Bagijo as head of the East Java Province Manpower and Transmigration Office, and Myra M. Hanartani from the Indonesian Employers' Association (APINDO) .
In addition, there were also experience sharing sessions from workers with disabilities including M. Beny Sasongko (person with a deaf disability) who works as an SLB teacher daily, Anisa Kusuma W (person with a deaf disability) who works as a civil servant at the Temanggung Regency Library and Archives Service, and Hendri Hernowo (person with low vision disability) who is a master's degree student who received a scholarship from the Australian government.
It is hoped that in the future workers with disabilities can get the same rights and opportunities as the community in general, that providing job opportunities is part of the effort to humanize persons with disabilities. Hopefully, the G20 presidency of Indonesia in the future can bring certainty in promoting the issue of an inclusive labor market.
