The number of unemployed people in Indonesia reached more than 7.86 million people based on the Central Bureau of Statistics report in August 2023. This number is certainly not small, Indonesia is a country that is very short of jobs. The impact of unemployment itself includes increasing poverty, triggering crime and the emergence of political and social inequality. Not only the physical impact, the unemployed will experience fear and anxiety about failure in the future, which can have a negative impact and lead to the emergence of political and social inequalities. which can have a negative impact and cause stress.
As ordinary citizens, there is certainly not much we can do. Creating jobs is one of the tasks of the government and the country's leaders who have the power to change the system in our country. Many jobs applicants claim that they have to fulfill many unreasonable requirements just to be able to work, for example many companies use age limit rules for workers, for example there are companies that only accept people with an age limit from 25 years to 30 years, even though people older or younger than that also need a job to earn an income. Other ridiculous things that are applied, for example, must have a minimum of 5 years of work experience, then what about people who have just graduated from their education period, shouldn't it be more about ability and teaching the basics of the work that must be done. Or when many jobs for example only accept men and women who are physically good looking, even though those who need to eat are not only good looking people. The most annoying thing is when workers are not allowed to dress freely, maybe it's normal if the company wants people to dress neatly, but if for example they have to remove the hijab even though they are just shopkeepers, it is very unfair, people have the right to wear religious attributes as long as it does not interfere with carrying out work.
As I said, as ordinary people, there is not much we can do. Maybe we can only speak out on social media, write to the government and so on without any certainty. That's why we need great strength to survive in this life. There are small things that we can do in our spare time, not only for the unemployed, but students, college students and the whole community can do this. these are just some useful tips for us to do in our spare time.
First, we must be diligent in reading books. Indonesia is a country with a very low literacy level, even though a person's level of intelligence can also be seen from how much knowledge he gets, and that knowledge comes from books. As a Muslim, Islam always teaches its people to always read, such as the first verse delivered by Allah SWT, the Lord of this universe through Jibril to the Prophet Muhammad Saw is the command to read. Reading is the key to people's success, reading can increase brain intelligence along with the increase in knowledge that we get from reading. To change a people is to teach it, and the first thing taught in school is of course reading. In reading, the book knows good and correct language, this language is also very important for humans. Language as a means of communication for every human being, you can imagine what happens if a human being wrong and unable to convey his language to others. Of course reading is very important in this life.
Second, do something useful. Instead of playing with our phones a lot, we can do many interesting things in this world, starting with volunteering to teach children, cleaning the environment or anything useful. We can also exercise, besides being physically healthy, exercise can also improve our mood so that we become more positive and happy. Do anything interesting in this world that you want to do. Maybe take a walk to a place you like, or if you don't have the money, you can just walk around the house and enjoy the morning sun. Anyway, do something, whatever it is, don't just spend time indoors alone without doing anything, many bad things will happen if we just sit quietly in the house, such as cellphone addiction, even most of them are addicted to pornography or something like that. Do useful things, you can also just take a walk while greeting people who pass by and be grateful for the gifts that Allah SWT has given us. Be grateful for the little things that are actually great for us, imagine how lucky we are to be able to see the world with beautiful eyes, be able to walk with both feet, be able to do many things using our two hands, be able to hear well and most importantly still have the mind to think. It is rare for us as humans to realize and be grateful.
The third is human contact. Get into the habit of socializing, at least greeting the people around you. Hang out with positive people a lot. As humans, we definitely need other humans. Just to get a job, we need other humans to accept us. We need to expand our relationships and healthy friendships. However, this world is not fair, when we have been kind to others, not necessarily that person also does the same to us. That's why we must be sincere in making friends without wanting anything in return. We need to dare to speak up, we need to ask our confusion, we need to have an opinion to channel what is in our mind, we need to make a voice if we know the answer that others are asking to help them. However, of course, we will get many responses from other humans, in addition to positive responses, we will also have those who give us negative responses. As humans, we cannot please everyone. If there are people who don't like us, it is very natural, the most perfect person like the Prophet alone has many haters. Moreover, we are ordinary people who often make mistakes. Therefore, as long as what we are talking about does not harm and hurt the feelings of others, then keep speaking up.
Last but not least, always keep God present within us. Allah is the only thing we need most of all. Always present Allah SWT in our lives, if we are confused about what to do, then ask for Allah's blessing every time we do something. Love Allah more than anything, more than we love what He created. Hope in Allah more than we hope in creatures. If we commit sins and mistakes, ask for forgiveness from Allah, the Lord of the Universe who created us. Indeed, Allah understands us better than we understand ourselves. So convey our requests to Allah, whatever it is, work, intelligence, health and everything. Because it is only by hoping in Allah that we will never be disappointed and will instead be happy. Rest assured, that God knows better the path of our lives, so don't be too overthinking about everything that is not our domain. As humans, we can only try our best and pray as much as possible.
      Many of you may think that this has nothing to do with the number of unemployed people I mentioned in the first paragraph. But that's the solution, we can't do much about it. Keep your spirits up, you are not alone, there are many of you who are crying tears, frantic and tired of expending all the energy that you think might not have any results. But believe me, if we intend everything to achieve Allah's pleasure, to make a living in this world, everything we intend will definitely produce good results.
      Never get tired of praying and hoping to Allah. Praying is an act of worship that we need, not something that must always be granted, pray to be close to Allah's help. Sometimes as humans, we always want our God to always answer our prayers, even though our God is not a servant who must fulfill our wishes, naudzubillah. Instead, we are the servants who must obey the rules that Allah gives with a sincere heart. Surely, Allah hears all the prayers and will love us and give the best gift.
      This article is a reminder for the readers, as well as for myself as a writer. Please apologize if there are many mistakes, the good comes from Allah and the bad comes from myself. Thank you.
