JAKARTA - KP2MI says registration for its SMK Go Global overseas-employment programme will open on August 12.
Minister for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers Mukhtarudin announced the date at a press conference in Jakarta on August 5, saying BP3MI units in 23 provinces had begun publicising the intake. ANTARA reported that the programme is intended to improve candidates’ skills and facilitate 40,000 overseas placements during 2026.
KP2MI’s own releases describe the 40,000 goal in different ways. Several refer to 40,000 trainees or candidates to be prepared this year, while another sets an initial target of 40,000 placements. The figure should therefore be read as an official programme target rather than a guaranteed number of workers who will secure jobs.
Because the intake is starting in the second half of the year, the 2026 programme will concentrate on upskilling people who already possess at least one job-specific ability. Training may cover foreign languages, technical skills and certification, depending on the requirements of employers and destination countries.
“Because this is a quick-win programme, we are starting with upskilling, not from zero,” Mukhtarudin said.
Priority fields include caregiving, nursing, manufacturing, construction, welding, hospitality, transport and agriculture. Potential destinations named by the ministry include Japan, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, Poland and the Maldives.
The programme is open not only to vocational-school alumni but also to members of the public who already have basic competencies. KP2MI has said meeting a 40,000-participant target would require about 2,000 classes of 20 people each. It identifies employer recruitment in destination countries as the final and most difficult stage.
KP2MI held departure ceremonies for 60 vocational-school graduates bound for manufacturing jobs in Malaysia in February and 200 Indonesian workers bound for Japan in April under the SMK Go Global banner.
As of July 25, KP2MI’s placement system listed 301,049 overseas vacancies, of which 77,158 had been filled, leaving 223,891 unfilled. Those listings illustrate the scale of overseas demand but do not guarantee that every trainee will receive an employment offer.
SMK Go Global forms part of a broader government target to prepare 500,000 skilled Indonesian migrant workers from 2026 through 2029.
