Skill formation and income: Insights from the Indonesian migrant workers

Abstract

Indonesia is among the top five countries with the highest number of seafarers globally and this seafaring expertise extends to Indonesian migrant workers on cruise ships. The enhancement of workers' skills on cruise ships is vital as it can bolster their work proficiency, paving the way for future career advancement and increased earnings. This study aimed to examine the relationship between training and the income increase of Indonesian migrant workers on cruise ships. Using a quantitative approach, the analysis involved 320 Indonesian migrant workers. The dependent and independent variables were income increase and training, respectively, with control variables including education, age, and the length of work for Indonesian migrant workers on cruise ships. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between the binary response variables. The results showed that there was a positive relationship between on-the-job training and the income increase of Indonesian migrant workers. Statistically, Indonesian migrant workers who engaged in on-the-job training had a 1.9 times higher income increase compared to those with off-the-job training. Conversely, the length of work showed a negative relationship with income increase. The analysis indicated that as the tenure of Indonesian migrant workers on cruise ships extended, the likelihood of income decreased by .8 times. The significance of on-the-job training for Indonesian migrant workers lies in its role in enhancing skills, competitiveness, and total performance, ultimately resulting in higher income.

Keywords

• Cruise ship
• Indonesian migrant workers
• Training
• Income increase
• Human capital