Employing disabled people could have a positive impact on employee morale, bring diversity to the company, raise the quality of services to customers from disabled people and also increase productivity as disabled people tend to be more diligent than non-disabled people. It was a conclusion of the one-day Inclusive Business Forum held in Jakarta early this year.

The Forum, “The Business Case of Inclusive Employment”, also concluded with the plan to establish the Indonesian Disability Business Network—a network of multinational enterprises, employers’ organizations, business networks and disabled persons’ organizations who share the conviction that people with disabilities have talents and skills that can enhance any businesses.


Organized by the ILO, the Forum was dedicated for the Indonesian employers to discuss and share experience on tapping the market and talent pool of persons with disabilities. Therefore, it was aimed to increase awareness and understanding of state-owned and private enterprises on benefits of hiring and employing people with disabilities.

The Forum was a follow-up to a similar business forum conducted in December 2015 that was conducted in collaboration between ILO and the Ministry of Manpower. The Forum was also part of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Indonesia, particularly the Goal 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth and the Goal 10 on Reduced Inequalities.

“Government of Indonesia is committed to promote equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In addition to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises on Placement and Vocational Training for People with Disabilities at the state-owned companies in December, the government will open employment opportunities as civil servants for people with disabilities,” said Sapto Purnomo, Deputy Director for Vulnerable Labour Placement, Directorate of Domestic Manpower Placement, Ministry of Manpower.

Meanwhile, Francesco d’Ovidio, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia, stated that the ILO has a long standing commitment to promote decent work for people with disabilities as it is in line with the ILO Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation. This ILO Convention has been ratified by Indonesia through Act. No. 21/1999.

“It is not a matter of charity. It is a matter of choice, because employing people with disabilities makes good sense from the business point of view,” he said, adding that the ILO was keen to keep sharing these positive experiences with other companies and government institutions through business forums like this.

Dynamic discussions occurred during the three sessions in the Forum. Representatives from multinational companies shared their experiences in building a successful inclusive programme at their companies. PT Dewhirst, for example, has provided equal career development for workers with disabilities; PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) has developed a special training programme for its disabled employees and PT Outsource Indonesia has actively looked for workers with disabilities.


Some challenges were also highlighted in the discussions. All participants and resource persons agreed that it was not easy to find people with disabilities applying for jobs. “It is difficult for us to find workers with disabilities. Although we have opened job opportunities for people with disabilities, we only receive a few disabled applicants,” said Hayati, HRD and Recruitment Manager of PT Dewhirst.

Puspadi Bali, a vocational training provider company, also experienced a similar difficulty. “We have to go directly to villages in Bali, for example, to find training participants. We have to persuade not only the participants but also their families as some parents are still hesitant to let their disabled children to be far from home,” told I Nengah Latra, Director of Puspadi Bali.

To better connect people with disabilities with companies offering inclusive job opportunities, some efforts have been taken by DNetwork, a global jobs network. “Using an information technology, we provide job opportunities targeted to job seekers with disabilities. We also provide further assistance to disability communities who need helps during interview or job test. For example, we provide a sign-language interpreter for job seekers with hearing disability or we conduct a quick training on sign-language for companies hiring people with hearing disability,” said Ni Komang Ayu Suriani, Project Coordinator of DNetwork.

The Forum was organized by the ILO through its Promoting Rights and Opportunities for People with Disabilities in Employment through Legislation (PROPEL) Project. Funded by Irish Aid, the Project is aimed to promote better work and employment opportunities created for men and women with disabilities, through the creation of an enabling legal and policy environment, the promotion of skills development opportunities and measures to eliminate discrimination.

People with disabilities make up an estimated one billion, or 15 per cent, of the world’s population. About 80 per cent are of working age. It is estimated that there are around 38 million of people with disabilities in Indonesia. They still face enormous attitudinal, physical and informational barriers to equal opportunities in the world of work.