Evaluation of Pre-Employment Card Implementation

While the Indonesian employment services system has so far been mostly oriented toward jobseeker activation via free training and job matching services, with no provision of income support, the recent introduction of a new welfare-to-work program, Kartu Prakerja (Pre-Employment Card), represents a major shift in the government’s approach to helping jobseekers. Coming into effect in April 2020, the program aims to provide training services (upskilling and reskilling) to jobseekers, terminated workers, and those who have experienced declining income due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This study aims to firstly, investigate the narrative underpinning the shift in the government’s approach to solving the unemployment problem. Secondly, taking an experimental approach, we examine what works and what doesn’t in the program from the perspectives of both service providers and the program participants, whether the program hits the intended target in terms. Thirdly, we track participants’ employability and employment outcomes post the training program so as to shed light on the program performance for those factors that can help improve it.