Surabayaruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Shipping, ports & logistics
Pelindo, Tanjung Perak and Teluk Lamong terminals, Meratus, Samudera Indonesia
Tanjung Perak is one of Indonesia's busiest ports and the gateway for eastern Indonesia — everything moving between Java and the islands to the east passes through here.
Manufacturing & industrial estates
SIER Rungkut, Unilever Indonesia, Maspion, Wings, PT Sampoerna
The Surabaya Industrial Estate Rungkut is one of Indonesia's oldest planned industrial estates, and manufacturing rather than services is what the city's economy is built on.
Heavy industry & shipbuilding
PT PAL Indonesia, Dok dan Perkapalan Surabaya, Barata Indonesia
PT PAL builds naval vessels and submarines at Tanjung Perak and is the reason Surabaya has a genuine marine engineering labour pool.
Petrochemicals, cement & smelting (Gresik)
Petrokimia Gresik, Semen Indonesia, the JIIPE special economic zone
Gresik, half an hour north-west, hosts fertiliser, cement and — since 2024 — a very large copper smelter at JIIPE, and is where a great many of Surabaya's foreign engineers actually work.
Healthcare & medical referral
RSUD Dr. Soetomo, Universitas Airlangga, National Hospital, Siloam, Premier Surabaya
Dr. Soetomo is the top referral hospital for eastern Indonesia, which gives Surabaya a depth of medical specialism you would not expect from its size.
Higher education & engineering
Universitas Airlangga, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Universitas Negeri Surabaya
ITS is one of Indonesia's strongest engineering institutions and feeds the shipbuilding, energy and manufacturing employers directly.
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