Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) says that the number of unemployed Indonesians increases by 1.3 million every year due to the gap between available jobs and new workers.

"There are 2.91 million new workers every year and yet we only get 1.6 million new jobs per year. That's why there is always a gap of 1.3 million unemployed individuals," Kadin chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto said on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara News Agency.

Aside from the discrepancy between new workers and available jobs, Suryo said that another factor leading to unemployment was a lack of qualified workers. "Out of about 8.14 million unemployed Indonesians, only 5.7 percent of them have a bachelor's degree," Suryo said.

In order to allow these workers to contribute to Indonesia's economy, Suryo said that the country had to grow 8 percent every year. (png/swd)