Why Are Young People Still Struggling to Find Jobs?

Finding a job is not necessarily getting harder for every young person. In fact, Indonesia’s youth unemployment rate has improved in recent years, falling from 14.1% in 2022 to 13.0% in 2025. Yet one concern remains: young people continue to face significantly higher unemployment rates than adults.

According to World Bank data based on ILO modeled estimates, the unemployment rate among people aged 15–24 stood at 13.8% in 2021, 14.1% in 2022, 13.0% in 2023, 13.1% in 2024, and 13.0% in 2025. Data from Indonesia’s National Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) similarly shows that younger workers consistently experience the highest unemployment rates among age groups.

So, the challenge is not simply about whether jobs are available. It is also about something more fundamental: how young people make the transition from education to the world of work.

Building an impressive CV has never been easier.

Online courses, certificates, webinars, student organizations, volunteer work, and personal branding can all add impressive credentials to a resume. But beneath the list of achievements lies a more important question:

What did you actually gain from those experiences?

Can you work with people who think differently from you? Can you lead a team? Make decisions when the answer is not obvious? Solve problems under pressure? Take responsibility when things do not go according to plan?

These are the qualities that often become visible only when someone steps beyond the classroom.

Because the workplace does not only evaluate what you know. It also reveals how you think, how you act, and how you respond when things get complicated.

For some young people, academic achievements and technical skills remain the primary focus. Organizational involvement, extracurricular activities, and other experiences outside the classroom may seem secondary.

Others collect one skill after another, building an impressive list of competencies without having enough opportunities to put them into practice.

Of course, being selective about a job is not necessarily a bad thing. Salary, benefits, and career growth matter. But when professional decisions are driven primarily by immediate material rewards without a clear sense of direction, it becomes easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.

After all, skills without experience, ambition without purpose, and competence without character can create a gap between looking job-ready and actually being ready to grow.

A more holistic approach to talent development can be seen through the Instarter Leadership Program, an entrepreneurial leadership scholarship program developed through a collaboration between Globerse, Paragon, and Rumah Kepemimpinan.

Instarter goes beyond providing access to education. The program is designed to develop character, an entrepreneurial mindset, and leadership through experiences that extend far beyond the classroom.

Participants take part in Orientation Camp, 1-on-1 and Group Coaching, Entrepreneur Mentoring, the Indonesia Roadshow, Global Business Challenge, Professional Mentoring, and the development of values inspired by Paragon.

These experiences give participants opportunities to do more than simply learn. They are encouraged to step outside their comfort zones, engage with different environments, develop ideas, create impact, and even pitch their work on a global stage.

In other words, the question is not simply:

“What skills do you have?”

It also becomes:

“Who are you?” “How do you lead?” “What impact can you create?”

That distinction matters.

Because preparing young people for the future is not only about giving them knowledge. It is about giving them opportunities to discover who they are, test what they can do, and understand how they can contribute.

The impact of talent development does not end when the program is over, nor does it end with a certificate.

Today, Instarter alumni are pursuing different paths. Some have continued their careers at Paragon. Others have built businesses, pursued further education, or contributed to organizations and companies across different fields.

Their journeys may look different, but they carry something in common: the experiences, values, and competencies they developed throughout the program continue to shape what they do today.

This shows why career readiness needs to be approached more holistically.

Being prepared for the world of work is not simply about having the right skills. It also requires character, experience, leadership, an entrepreneurial mindset, exposure, and purpose.

A strong CV may get you through the door.

But once that door opens, character, competence, and experience are what help you grow.

That is why the goal should go beyond making young people job-ready.

The bigger challenge is to help them become future-ready: equipped not only to navigate the professional world, but also to create meaningful impact wherever their journey takes them.

Source: World Bank – World Development Indicators, ILO modeled estimates; BPS Sakernas.