Equipping garment factory workers with soft skills to face future of work challenges

Understanding the importance of soft skills in the world of work, the ILO organizes a series of soft skills training in April-May 2022 targeting garment factory workers.

Press release | Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java, Indonesia | 12 April 2022
The launch of soft skills training programme for garment workers.
SUKOHARJO (ILO News) - In the era of digitalization and job automation, having a good combination of technical skills and soft skills would be necessary to win the highly competitive labour market. The report on the Rapid Assessment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Skills Demand in Indonesia published by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2020 confirms this. While technical skills continue to be improved for various fields, soft skills are often overlooked.

I appreciate the ILO, industry partners as well as workers for this initiative and hope that this training can be replicated at the provincial and district levels to reach more workers."

Budi Hartawan, Director General of Vocational Training Development and Productivity, Ministry of Manpower
Understanding the importance of soft skills in the world of work, the ILO organizes a series of soft skills training in April-May 2022 targeting garment factory workers. The opening ceremony will be held on 12 April 2022 at PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex). The training, which will be conducted in 3 cities in Central Java (Sukoharjo, Boyolali, and Jepara), aims to support factory workers in navigating changes in their workplace and help them adapt to the changing world of work.

Participated by 150 workers from three garment factories - PT Jaya Perkasa Textile, PT Eco Smart Garment, and PT Jiale Indonesia Textile - this training delivers 4 soft skills training that are highly demanded by industry based on the results of ILO’s rapid assessment, such as teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and integrity.

“The ILO has committed to support tripartite stakeholders in developing a responsive skills training system in Indonesia, one of which is by developing blended training modules that includes entrepreneurship, technical skills, and soft skills. This training uses an offline soft skills module that we developed together with the Ministry of Manpower last year,” said Michiko Miyamoto, Director of ILO Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

The ILO has committed to support tripartite stakeholders in developing a responsive skills training system in Indonesia, one of which is by developing blended training modules that includes entrepreneurship, technical skills, and soft skills."

Michiko Miyamoto, Director of ILO Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste
“Factory workers, especially women and young people, are the most vulnerable to automation. I hope that this training can create a positive contribution in improving their capability to adapt to the changing world of work,” she added.

The Ministry of Manpower acknowledges this initiative as an effort to improve labour conditions to build back better, in line with one of Indonesia's mottos in G20. “One of the government's priorities in the G20 is improving human capacity for sustainable productivity growth. This soft skill training marked as an important step in achieving this goal. I appreciate the ILO, industry partners as well as workers for this initiative and hope that this training can be replicated at the provincial and district levels to reach more workers," said Budi Hartawan, Director General of Vocational Training Development and Productivity, Ministry of Manpower.

This soft skills training module is also available on the Ministry of Manpower's online training website, allowing everyone to access without register to the Job Training Center (BLK).

We are pleased to be part of the ILO soft-skills training project. Collaboration between industry and training providers is important for worker development, enabling people to continue contributing to productivity and growth in a changing economy."

Yukihiro Nitta, Group Executive Officer, Sustainability, Fast Retailing, Co., Ltd
Supported by two projects, Industry Skills for Inclusive Growth Phase 2 (InSIGHT 2) funded by the Government of Japan and Unemployment Protection in Indonesia – Quality Assistance for Workers Affected by Labor Adjustments (UNIQLO) funded by Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., this training is part of the skills development programmes at the ILO Jakarta office.

These skills development programmes aim to build responsive skills development policies and systems, strengthen industry-vocational training collaboration, promote and pilot digital and distance learning, and create synergies between skills development and other labour market policies.

“We are pleased to be part of the ILO soft-skills training project. Collaboration between industry and training providers is important for worker development, enabling people to continue contributing to productivity and growth in a changing economy. The ILO soft-skills training for garment factory workers will certainly strengthen worker competitiveness in the world of work, now and in the future,” said Yukihiro Nitta, Group Executive Officer, Sustainability, Fast Retailing, Co., Ltd.

For more information, please contact:

Hirania Wiryasti
ILO’s National Project Officer for Digital and Distance Learning
Email: wiryasti@ilo.org

Ayunda Pratama
ILO’s Communication Officer for Skills Development
Email: pratama@ilo.org