VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Last weekend, the Government officially opened a registration for the Pre-Work Card program through the official website www.prakerja.go.id. The Pre-Work or Pre-Employment Card is for the  training cost assistance program and incentives for workers, job seekers, and micro and small business-people who have lost their jobs or experienced a weakening purchasing power due to the Corona-virus Disease 2019 Covid-19 pandemic.

The continued and widespread of the Covid-19 has made the government issue regulations that forbid people from gathering or leaving the house unless it is very urgent. In Jakarta, the provincial government has even issued a Governor Regulation No. 33 of 2020 concerning the implementation of the Large-Scale Social Restrictions in Handling Covid-19 pandemic.

The Governor's Regulation, which has been effective since Friday (10/4), regulates various activities in Jakarta City, related to the economic, social, cultural, religious, and educational matters. Certainly, this has an impact on economic activity or people's purchasing power. Declining purchasing power has resulted in the closure of several businesses and led to termination of employment (layoffs).

According to Minister of Manpower, Ida Fauziyah, there are currently at least 1.5 million workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of this number, 10 percent or around 150,000 people have lost their jobs, while another 90 percent are  still temporarily forced to stay at home or laid off.

To help them, the government then  launched the Pre-Work or  Pre-Employment Card program. Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto hopes that the program is able to increase the competence, productivity and competitiveness of the workforce, and can help  the cost of living amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The total budget provided by the government for this year is Rp 20 trillion. Each recipient of the Pre-Employment Card will receive a total benefit package worth Rp 3,550,000. These funds are  provided in the form of assistance with training costs of Rp 1 million. Then, there is the first post-training incentive worth Rp 600,000 per month to be given for 4 months with a total amount worth Rp 2.4 million. There is also an incentive after filling out an evaluation survey of Rp 50,000 per survey for 3 times with a total amount worth Rp 150,000. The assistance from the government can be used to purchase various trainings on the specified digital partner platforms.