Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah accentuated that opportunities for placing Indonesian migrant workers in Austria should be counterbalanced by improving foreign language teaching at vocational training centers (BLK).
“(Austria) needs a lot of workers with professional skills. They need at least 250 thousand (workers). We will adjust demanded competencies in our BLKs,” Fauziyah stated after signing the memorandum of understanding on work-based training cooperation with her Austrian counterpart here Thursday.
The minister said that the authority would ensure protection for Indonesian workers in Austria, particularly regarding their wage rights.
The Austrian authority has observed several ministry-operated BLK to assess the percentage of workers from Indonesia that could cover their domestic demand of 250 thousand workers, she noted.
“Competencies (offered by BLKs) have satisfied (the Austrian demands), but we must upgrade our language capability and competency. I informed them that we would open new language training (courses) at various BLKs to complement the basic competencies,” Fauziyah stated.
Earlier, on Thursday, Fauziyah signed a memorandum of understanding on work-based training cooperation with Austrian Federal Minister of Labor and Economy, Martin Kocher.
The agreement will become the basis to develop bilateral cooperation in the manpower sector, including vocational training, internship for Indonesians in Austria, and the placement of professional Indonesian migrant workers in the Central European country, the minister noted.
Fauziyah said that the cooperation agreement would benefit Indonesian workers, who will have employment opportunities expanded to Austria. With an ageing population, younger and more productive workers are in high demand in Austria to fulfil their operational and industry needs, she affirmed.
Source: Antara News