Indonesia's Manpower Minister: Up to 50% of Work Could Be Automated by AI Within 10 Years - What HR Should Do Now
Minister of Manpower Yassierli warned that around 50% of current work could be handled by machines or AI within the next decade. His message in Tangerang on November 13 was clear: skilling, reskilling, and upskilling must move from slogans to execution.
He called for joint action between government, industry, and unions, backed by stronger training infrastructure. The Ministry will expand the role of Job Training Centers (BLK) and the Productivity Vocational Center (BVP) as hubs for human capital development. There are 41 BLKs across Indonesia covering IT, machinery, barista, hospitality, welding, and green jobs. The government is targeting at least 500,000 participants, with potential to scale to millions with active partners.
For HR leaders, this is a mandate to redesign workforce strategy. Your edge will come from how quickly you re-map roles, build new skill pipelines, and align training to real business outcomes.
Immediate priorities for HR
- Run a task-level audit of key roles to identify what can be automated, augmented, or must remain human-led.
- Build a competency map for the next 3-5 years: AI literacy, data skills, process automation, compliance, and safety.
- Create learning paths for skilling (new hires), reskilling (role shifts), and upskilling (role upgrades).
- Pilot AI-assisted workflows in 2-3 departments to prove value and refine change management.
- Partner with BLK/BVP and trusted providers for co-delivered programs tied to job outcomes.
- Stand up fair transition policies: redeployment first, training stipends, transparent selection for new roles.
- Set clear KPIs: productivity, quality, time-to-competence, internal mobility, and retention.
- Engage unions early to co-design training and redeployment agreements.
High-impact skill paths
- AI literacy: prompts, limits, validation, and basic model risks.
- Data essentials: spreadsheets, SQL basics, visualization, and decision support.
- Workflow automation: RPA, no-code tools, and API-based integrations.
- Cybersecurity basics and data governance for AI-enabled work.
- Human strengths: critical thinking, service excellence, collaboration, negotiation.
- Operations for Industry 4.0: cobot safety, digital maintenance, quality control.
- Green skills in line with new roles cited by BLK: energy efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainable operations.
Leverage the national training network. BLKs and the BVP can serve as scalable delivery partners across regions and job families. Blend their programs with internal on-the-job training and vendor certifications to keep learning practical and tied to work.
90-day rollout plan
- Days 0-30: Audit tasks and tools, identify top 5 roles for redesign, pick training partners (including BLK/BVP), and define KPIs.
- Days 31-60: Launch pilots in two teams, train champions, ship a baseline AI literacy module to all white-collar staff.
- Days 61-90: Scale what works to adjacent teams, codify playbooks, publish a transparent internal mobility path for reskilled staff.
Practical training sources
- BLK and BVP for hands-on vocational programs and productivity training.
- Industry vendors and community colleges for tool-specific certifications.
- Curated online catalogs to cover AI, automation, and data skills at scale. Explore role-based pathways here: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
- For macro trends and benchmarks, see the Future of Jobs insights: WEF Future of Jobs Report 2023 and ILO: Future of Work.
Policies and safeguards
- Data policy for AI use: privacy, security, IP, and human review requirements.
- Fairness: monitor for bias in AI-assisted decisions; keep a human in the loop for hiring, performance, and exit decisions.
- Worker protections: redeployment and training guarantees, plus transparent timelines for role changes.
- Health and safety: clear SOPs for human-machine collaboration and equipment training.
Metrics that matter
- Productivity lift per role after AI/automation.
- Time-to-competence for reskilled employees.
- Internal fill rate for new digital roles.
- Training completion and on-the-job application rates.
- Quality, safety, and customer satisfaction trends post-implementation.
"The transformation of competence is a long-term investment. We want to ensure that every Indonesian worker is ready to adapt and grow with the changing times," Yassierli said.
If you need structured, job-aligned upskilling tracks, you can also review certification paths: Popular AI Certifications.
The message for HR is simple: build skills now, design humane transitions, and align learning to measurable business value. Those who act early will set the standard for competitiveness and worker opportunity over the next decade.
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