Australian TVET sector backing Indonesia’s digital skills boom
New Katalis study finds 50 per cent of Indonesia’s labour force has basic to intermediate digital skills, less than 1 per cent of the labour force has advanced digital skills.
JAKARTA, 6 September 2022 – A new report series by Katalis that aims to identify commercial partnerships in the skills sector between Australia and Indonesia is launched this week.
The first brief of the Katalis Market Insight series explores the scale of demand for digital skills in Indonesia, using real-time job advertisement data and confirms the significant potential of enhanced trade and investment links driven by the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (IA-CEPA), including through reduced barriers to entry for Australian TVET providers in the Indonesian market.
With more than 10 digital companies valued at over USD 1 billion and over 100 million internet users, Indonesia represents a major market for digital skills training. While 50 per cent of Indonesia’s labour force has basic to intermediate digital skills, less than 1 per cent of the labour force has advanced digital skills. In the six months to June 2022, 50,000 jobs requiring digital skills were advertised in Indonesia.
“With the growing demand for tech talent to support the massive growth of its digital economy, the Indonesian market is a major opportunity for Australian TVET providers looking to enter or expand internationally. The analysis in Katalis Market Insight suggests Australian TVET providers would benefit from placing greater attention on the Indonesian market,” said Paul Bartlett, Director, Katalis. “At Katalis, we’re actively making the connection between Indonesian businesses and the Australian TVET industry.”
Education and vocational training is Australia’s second largest export to Indonesia and research by Katalis finds that 60 per cent of Australian TVET providers currently provide skills training to Indonesian students, which is delivered predominantly onshore in Australia. Twenty-seven per cent of Australian TVET providers surveyed deliver training in Indonesia, while a further 53 per cent are interested in entering the Indonesian market.
As part of its mandate to deliver high performance labour market skills for Indonesian businesses and government to boost productivity, gender equality and social inclusion, particularly in sectors heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Katalis is working with businesses to identify skills needs and broker focused training, skills exchange and productive connections between Indonesia and Australia.
In early 2023, Katalis will be launching a digital platform to directly connect Indonesian employers with high-quality Australian TVET providers to meet their specific training needs.
The Katalis Market Insights series can be accessed here.
