Global Nurse Migration & Domestic Labor Market Impacts – Systematically analyzing the domestic labor market consequences of Indonesia’s emerging role as a major exporter of professional nurses.
Balancing Global Opportunities with Domestic Sustainability
Projecting Labor Market Impacts of Indonesia’s Transition to a Nurse Exporting Nation (PELITA) is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the VolkswagenFoundation.
As global demand for nurses rises, many low- and middle-income countries are strategically deploying their workforce abroad. While this creates economic and other opportunities, it also raises concerns about adverse health labor market impacts at home. Indonesia is at a turning point, with recent policy set to significantly increase nurse migration, offering a rare opportunity to study impacts on the health system in real time.
In close collaboration with key policy makers, we examine changes in the nursing education landscape and quality, in student characteristics and preferences, and in graduate labor market readiness and entry patterns, complimented by an in-depth analysis of migration policy genesis, evolution, and implementation. Using an integrated longitudinal mixed-methods design, we draw on six primary and secondary data sources, including a large cohort of training institutions, nursing students, and graduates.
“PELITA aims to inform stakeholders on how Indonesia’s transition can be governed to maximize benefits while safeguarding the resilience of the domestic health care system.”
End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
Supporting sustainable health workforce planning to ensure availability and distribution.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Enhancing job quality, professional development, and labor incentives.
Modeling distributional consequences to specific regions and promote inclusive outcomes.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Cross-continental collaboration for equitable knowledge co-production.
Exploring the genesis of policy, its evolution over time, and implementation. Focusing on the role of research evidence and how policies translate into practice.
Examining changes in curricula and institutional strategies. How educational institutions adapt to internationalization pressures to better prepare future nurses.
Analyzing transformations in students’ competencies, career aspirations, and professional identities. The student perspective as a link to labor market outcomes.
Assessing the transition to employment, alignment of competencies with needs, and employability in increasingly internationalized labor markets.
Combining data-driven analysis of labor markets, workforce data harmonization, and quantitative projection models with qualitative interviews and stakeholder dialogues.
PELITA Researchers Convene in Surabaya to Chart Next Phase of Nurse Migration Study Surabaya – Researchers from Indonesia, Australia, and Germany met in Surabaya from June 12 to 17 for a series of intensive working sessions under the PELITA project, which examines the labor market implications of Indonesia’s emergence as a major nurse-exporting nation.
PELITA RESEARCH TEAM: Prof. Dr. Julia Lohmann (LMU Munich, Germany), Prof. Ferry Efendi, S.Kep.Ns., M.Sc., Ph.D (Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia), Prof. Rini Rachmawaty, S.Kep., Ns., M.N., Ph.D (Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia) Prof. Ferry and Dr. Nur Hygiawati Rahayu, S.T., M.Sc. (Bappenas), during a consultation session, offering constructive input and recommendations to strengthen the PELITA Project framework.
Jakarta, January 6, 2026 – The PELITA Project Advisory Panel Kick-off Meeting and Stakeholder Consultation was held at the Gran Melia Hotel, Jakarta, officially launching a five-year international research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany. The meeting brought together high-level representatives from key government institutions, professional associations, international organizations, educational institutions, and the private sector to discuss the project’s direction and policy
Have questions about the project or interested in collaboration? Reach out to our leads.
julia.lohmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de
ferry-e@fkp.unair.ac.id
rini.rachmawaty@unhas.ac.id