BATAN Scouts for Young Researchers

Liputan6.com, Jakarta The National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) is currently experiencing a shortage of young researchers. The plan for a moratorium in the civil servant (PNS) recruitment process only makes it worse for BATAN. Moratorium in this sector will halt the progress towards finding the right candidates that may be contributors to the successful future of BATAN. Responding to this, the head of BATAN Djarot Sulistio Wisnubroto suggests exception for its department/institution to be free from moratorium civil servant recruitment process for the next five years. This request will lend the institution some more time to scout potential candidates.

“Moratorium on civil servants recruitment has not been legally decided. At this point, government has already make an exception got teachers and paramedics, hopefully the will do the same for researchers,” said Djarot who is interviewed after attending BATAn 56^th birthday in Serpong, Friday (5/12/2014).

So far Djarot claims to have been communicating with the State Minister for the Empowerment of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reformation (KEMENPAN-RB) and State Minister for Research and Technology (KEMENRISTEK) in regards to his request on excluding research from the civil servants recruitment moratorium. He also stresses the need for young researchers as most of the employees’ age in BATAN range between 52-55 years old.

So far Djarot claimed to have communicated with Kemenpan-RB and Kemenristek exception moratorium on civil servants. Because the majority of employees BATAN now in the average age of 52-55 years.

“This is primarily because, in 1985 through to 1987, Habibie did a large-scale recruitment for this particular subject. This means most of us are going to retire very soon as we were recruited at the same age,” he explained.

His calculation suggests, around 600 out of 2800 BATAN researchers will retire at the same time due to gradually increasing age and decreasing productivity. Of course, during that period when 600 of us left, BATAN requires a lot young researchers to replace the predecessors.

“Young labours is still considered a minority in this particular field. There is only 5% of those whose age under 30 years old,” he added. (Akp/Ein)