402 Young Women Ready to Begin Their Digital Careers through Tech Muda II

Jakarta, 27 August 2024 – Investing in young women is key to creating a generation of tech-savvy workers ready to compete in the global digital market. In Indonesia, women only represent 28% of the total IT workforce (ILO, 2020) so closing the digital gap is essential to achieving the government’s goal of having 9 million qualified digital workers by 2030 (Ministry of Manpower, 2023).

Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia), in partnership with the multinational finance company, JPMorganChase, has been working to reduce this disparity through the Tech Muda II program since 2022. As part of the project, 508 young women (12 with disabilities) between the ages of 18-29 who are from low-income families in the Greater Jakarta area, completed a training in either web programming or digital marketing. The project also provided mentoring, soft skills and work readiness training, project-based learning experiences, and career support that led to 353 of those young women gaining employment in the form of internships, part-time work, or full-time work.

Overall, the project had a lasting positive impact in the lives of participants. For example, Tasyah, a web programming participant, said that Tech Muda II played an important part in her career and taught her the technical and soft skills needed to join the digital workforce. Through Tech Muda II’s job-seeking assistance, she received a social media internship at a large Indonesian news company, which then turned into a full-time position. As she said, “The support that I had from the Tech Muda II program did not stop there. Even as I gained employment, the mentors continued to provide me with mental support to persevere in the workplace.”

Dini Widiastuti, Plan Indonesia’s Executive Director, thinks Tech Muda II’s achievement is proof that young women can thrive with the right support: “While there is a huge opportunity for Indonesian young women to succeed in the digital landscape, there is also a huge barrier that prevent them from entering the job market, particularly as IT is still regarded as a male-dominated sector. Plan Indonesia works to support these young women with up-to-date digital skills, so they can compete more equally within today’s digital market.”

Gioshia Ralie, Senior Country Officer at J.P. Morgan Indonesia, shares: “We have been partnering with Plan International since 2019 to empower the youth in Indonesia and help them access opportunities in the digital sector, very much critical in today’s workforce.”

The Tech Muda II program was a two-year training program that was a continuation of Tech Muda I, which was implemented from 2019-2021. The project trained 150 young people and 110 of them secured employment by the end of the program. The projects are part of Plan Indonesia’s Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship program, which seeks to support the government’s effort to fulfil SDG goals 8 (decent work for everyone) and 5 (gender equality) by equipping young people from various parts of Indonesia with new skills to increase their economic empowerment. The program has reached more than 40,000 young people and reached more than 2 million people online through kitakerja.id’s social media platforms.

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About Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia)

Plan International has operated in Indonesia since 1969 and seeks to advance girls’ equality and children’s rights. We also work with young people to enable meaningful engagement in life decisions.

Plan Indonesia, a subsidiary of Plan International Inc., runs a major child sponsorship program. In East Nusa Tenggara, Plan Indonesia has sponsored 36,000 boys and girls to ensure their right to birth certificates, essential vaccinations, clean water, sanitation and cleanliness, and education.

Plan Indonesia operates in eight provinces across seven thematic programs, including Climate Resilience Led by Youth, Disaster Preparedness and Gender Responsive Humanitarian Response, Youth Health, Elimination of Violence against Children and Youth, Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, and Resilient Schools.

These initiatives seek to empower at least 3 million girls with equal representation, equal power, and equal freedom. For more information, visit our website at plan-international.or.id.

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