Analysis of Knowledge Level and Usage Interest in the Indofood Career Website

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the knowledge level and usage interest of society in Bitung City toward the Indofood Career website, the official digital recruitment platform of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk. The study is motivated by a declining trend in the number of registered society in Bitung City between 2023 and 2025 from 2,382 to 1,747 and then to 1,098 alongside a preliminary survey of 25 respondents indicating that 64% had never visited the Indofood Career website despite 80% expressing willingness to access it in the future. This gap raised concern about a possible discouraged-worker phenomenon rather than a genuine improvement in local labor-market conditions. This research employs a qualitative approach with an intrinsic case-study design. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, direct observation, and documentation study involving five informants selected through purposive sampling based on the criteria of being aged 18–35, residing in Bitung City, and having internet access. Data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña comprising data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification with trustworthiness established through method triangulation, member checking, and thick description. The results show that informants’ knowledge of the Indofood Career website is relatively strong at the know and comprehension levels, but varies at the application level, with three of five informants completing the entire registration and application procedure while two remained at the login stage. Informants’ perceptions and experiences were generally positive, reflected in an average usability rating of 8.6 out of 10, supported by consistent perceptions of usefulness (credible job information) and ease of use (a simple registration flow accessible via mobile devices). The main driving factors for usage interest were perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, while the main inhibiting factor identified consistently by all informants was the lack of socialization and promotion of the website, compounded by its limited job-vacancy coverage restricted to a single corporate group. These findings confirm a gap between the das sein (actual condition) of a well-regarded but under-promoted platform and the das sollen (ideal condition) of widespread public awareness, lending empirical support to the discouraged-worker hypothesis raised in the background of this study and indicating that the primary barrier to digital-recruitment adoption in Bitung City lies at the awareness stage rather than the technology-acceptance stage.