Close Indonesia’s skills gap faster with strategic recruitment partners. Photo by Canva
Struggling to Hire? How Strategic Recruitment Partners Close the Skills Gap.
Hiring in Indonesia going into 2026 feels like a paradox for many employers.
On paper, Indonesia has one of the largest labour forces in ASEAN (150M+ workers), yet companies still report difficulty finding qualified talent—especially for technical, digital, and mid-senior roles. Surveys indicate many employers struggle to fill vacancies due to skills shortages and mismatches, not merely a lack of applicants (ETCIO, 2025).
At the same time, youth unemployment and underemployment remain issues, with many graduates working below their qualification level or outside their field (ResearchGate, n.d.).
So if there are many jobseekers and many open roles, why is hiring still so hard?
The problem for most organisations is not “no talent” – it’s how they design roles, where they look for candidates, and how they assess skills. This is where the right recruitment partner can close the gap.
1) Why Hiring in Indonesia Feels So Difficult
1.1 Job requirements are written for “unicorns”
Many employers in Indonesia still use job descriptions that:
- Combine multiple roles into one (sales + marketing + operations + admin).
- Ask for 3–5 years of experience for positions that pay at a junior level.
- Expect candidates to be 100% job-ready on day one, with minimal training.
In a market where skills are evolving quickly, this “unicorn” profile drastically shrinks the viable talent pool before recruitment even begins.
1.2 Degree-first, skills-second filters
Only a relatively small share of Indonesia’s workforce holds a university degree, yet many firms still screen heavily by degree and campus name (ETCIO, 2025).
This automatically excludes:
- Candidates from polytechnics, vocational schools, bootcamps.
- People who developed strong skills through experience, not formal education.
The result: plenty of capable talent never makes it past the first filter.
1.3 Fragmented and informal talent pools
Outside Jakarta and a few major cities, talent markets are often:
- More relationship-based (referrals, networks) than job-board based.
- Spread across multiple platforms and informal channels.
Companies that only rely on one or two job portals or their own careers page will miss large segments of the workforce.
1.4 Slow and rigid hiring processes
In competitive roles (IT, engineering, sales, finance, supply chain), candidates often have multiple offers. Yet some organisations still:
- Take weeks between interview rounds.
- Delay decision-making due to internal approvals.
- Issue offers that are not aligned with current salary benchmarks.
By the time a decision is made, top candidates have moved on.
2) The Real Issue: Skills Gap and Mismatch
Research on Indonesia’s labour market also shows a high rate of job–education mismatch, particularly among diploma and university graduates—many are overqualified for their roles or employed outside their field (ResearchGate, n.d.).
For employers, this shows up as:
- Candidates who have a relevant degree, but lack hands-on skills.
- Employees who are not equipped for new tools and digital processes.
- Gaps in “soft” skills like communication, problem-solving and client handling.
Simply posting more job ads won’t fix this. Employers need better ways to identify potential, verify skills, and decide where to train vs. where to buy expertise from the market.
That’s where strategic recruitment partners come in.
3) How Strategic Recruitment Partners Close the Skills Gap
A recruitment partner is not just a CV broker. The right one helps you rethink the way you hire in Indonesia.
3.1 Turning vague roles into realistic, skills-based profiles
A good recruitment partner will:
- Challenge overly broad job descriptions.
- Separate must-have competences from “nice-to-have” requirements.
- Help redesign roles into something the Indonesian talent market can realistically supply.
For example:
Instead of: “Sales & Marketing Executive who can also handle finance, admin and social media”
They may propose:
- a Sales/Account Executive role focused on client relationships, plus
- a separate support role for operations/admin.
This doesn’t just make hiring easier; it leads to better performance and retention because the role becomes more focused and sustainable.
3.2 Accessing wider, often hidden, talent pools
Strategic recruitment partners in Indonesia spend every day:
- Building candidate communities in specific industries and job families.
- Sourcing via multiple channels – job portals, social media, referrals, local networks, alumni groups.
- Tracking candidates who may not be active on mainstream job boards but are open to the right opportunity.
This is especially valuable if you’re:
- A foreign company new to Indonesia.
- Expanding to new cities or regions.
- Hiring for specialised roles (supply chain, engineering, HSE, digital, senior sales, etc.).
Instead of starting from zero, you tap into an existing mapped talent pool.
3.3 Evaluating skills, not just CV keywords
Instead of relying on the job title or company names on a CV, a strong recruitment partner will:
- Use structured interviews to test real competencies.
- Check practical examples of candidates’ work – projects, achievements, scenarios.
- Assess both technical skills and behavioural fit for Indonesian team culture.
This helps you identify candidates who:
- May not come from a “top brand” employer.
- May not have the “perfect” degree.
- But can do the job and grow with the role.
That’s how recruitment partners help close the skills–role gap in practice.
3.4 Speeding up hiring and reducing drop-offs
Because recruitment partners manage candidates daily, they can:
- Pre-qualify and shortlist quickly.
- Keep candidates engaged while you conduct interviews.
- Flag risks early (competing offers, expectations mismatch, notice period issues).
They also understand local salary expectations, notice periods and counter-offer patterns, helping you:
- Make competitive offers.
- Move at the right speed for the role.
- Avoid losing your first-choice candidates after investing time in interviews.
3.5 Supporting flexible models: temp, contract and EOR
Not every talent gap should be filled with a full-time permanent hire.
Strategic recruitment partners can also advise on:
- Temporary or contract staffing for projects, campaigns or seasonal demand.
- Employer of Record (EOR) solutions to:
- hire in Indonesia without setting up a local entity, or
- host certain employees while your entity is being established.
This lets you:
- Test new markets and functions faster and with lower risk.
- Scale up or down according to demand.
- Stay compliant with Indonesian labour and payroll regulations.
4) What Employers Should Fix Before Their Next Hiring Cycle
Before you launch your next recruitment campaign in Indonesia, ask:
- Is the role clearly defined around skills and outcomes – or is it a “wishlist”?
- Am I screening out good candidates because of degree/university bias?
- Do I know current salary benchmarks and notice periods for this role?
- Is my hiring process fast and structured enough to compete for top talent?
- Would a combination of permanent + temp/contract/EOR give me more flexibility?
If the answer to several of these is “no” or “not sure”, that’s exactly where a strategic recruitment partner adds value.
5) How Elitez Indonesia Supports Employers as a Strategic Partner
As part of a regional HR and recruitment group, Elitez Indonesia works with employers to solve hiring challenges, not just fill vacancies.
We support you by:
- Clarifying and calibrating role profiles for the Indonesian market.
- Sourcing and screening talent across multiple channels and regions.
- Focusing on skills-first assessment, not just CV keywords.
- Offering temp staffing, contract arrangements and Employer of Record (EOR) for flexible workforce needs.
- Sharing ongoing market insights – salary trends, in-demand skills, candidate expectations – to help you plan ahead for 2026.
Indonesia’s hiring challenge is no longer about “finding people”.
It’s about finding the right skills, at the right time, in the right structure.
Companies that continue to recruit the old way will keep losing time, candidates and opportunities.
Companies that treat recruitment partners as strategic allies – not just vendors will close the skills gap faster, build stronger teams, and be better positioned for growth in 2026 and beyond.
Planning Your 2026 Hires in Indonesia?
Speak with Elitez Indonesia about how we can help you close your skills gap and build the teams you need.
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