Photo: Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (KP2MI), Mukhtarudin.

KUALA LUMPUR - Indonesia has surpassed its 2025 Indonesian migrant worker deployment target by sending 260,000 workers abroad, slightly above the planned 259,000.

Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (KP2MI), Mukhtarudin said the government now aims to send 500,000 Indonesian migrant workers abroad next year under its quick wins target.

Mukhtarudin said this after sending off 40 wellness therapists at the Kemenperin Industrial Training Centre in Denpasar last Thursday. 

He said the combined regular and accelerated programmes could raise the total deployment to about 700,000 workers.

He added that meeting the 2026 goal would require all candidates to undergo training to meet professional standards overseas.

He said 300,000 workers would come from vocational high school graduates under the SMK Go Global programme, while another 200,000 would come from general applicants with D1–D3 or high school qualifications.

Mukhtarudin said global demand remained strong, with 350,000 job vacancies registered for Indonesian applicants this year.

He said only 20% of available overseas vacancies had been filled because the country still lacked skilled and competent workers.

“Quick wins (target) 500,000 for 2026. So the regular 250,000, plus quick wins 500,000 so maybe 700,000 in the future.

“300,000 from regular vocational high school graduates under the SMK Go Global programme, that’s 300,000. 200,000 are general applicants, possibly from D1, D2, D3 and high school graduates. This is what we must immediately realise in 2026.

“This is only 20% that we can fill, there is still 80% that we cannot fill. We lack competent human resources. That is why we will accelerate training, but also language and soft skills,” he added.