Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The government will entirely pay the salary of the fresh graduates joining the upcoming internship program meant to spur economic growth, according to a senior minister.

In other words, businesses do not have to worry about skyrocketing costs as they will not spend a single dime on the interns' paychecks.

Indonesia wants to send 20,000 fresh graduates on six-month internship programs, starting in October, as the country struggles with a mismatch between its workforce's skills and the industry. The program is open to fresh graduates within one year of their bachelor's degree completion.

The government has set aside Rp 198 billion (approximately $11.9 million) to cover the internship costs until the year-end. They are expected to allocate an extra budget for the January-March 2026 salary payments. Each intern will earn equivalent to the minimum provincial wage, which reaches around Rp 3.3 million a month. And so a person can bring home a total of Rp 19.8 million when the program ends.

"The incentives that we are giving to companies are that they do not have to pay the interns' salaries. It will be the government who will pay the interns," Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto told reporters in Jakarta.

According to Manpower Minister Yassierli, the internships will be available at both state-run and privately owned enterprises, but a higher priority will go to firms that are registered in the ministry's workforce database.

"How much the interns earn will depend on the provinces that they work at," Yassierli told reporters, while admitting that the Rp 198 billion budget allocation was still "of early estimates".

The ministry is currently drafting the technical regulation for this program.

"We will encourage companies to come up with a plan that lays out what [sort of workers] they actually need, and the kind of jobs that the interns will do. The company must also appoint a staff to guide the interns," Yassierli said.

Indonesia would allocate a portion of its Manpower Ministry's budget to fund the internships, a report by the Finance Ministry showed.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/govt-to-entirely-pay-interns-salary-in-119-million-packag