Analyst: WFH-1 Policy Could Suppress Industrial Productivity and SME Incomes
JAKARTA – The government’s plan to implement a one-day-per-week Work From Home (WFH-1) policy is assessed to have the potential to suppress incomes in several sectors, particularly transportation and small culinary businesses.
Energy Economics Observer from Gadjah Mada University, Fahmi Radhi, stated that although the policy is intended to reduce fuel oil (BBM) consumption, it could also generate economic impacts for business actors on the other side.
He explained that reduced public mobility due to WFH-1 would directly affect the transportation sector, including online motorcycle taxis (ojol), as well as UMKM actors who rely on the activities of office workers.
Not only that, the policy is also seen to impact the industrial sector, particularly manufacturing, if implemented broadly.
“Mandatory WFH-1 for private sector workers in manufacturing could also potentially lower work productivity, ultimately harming that sector,” Fahmi added.
He emphasised that the government needs to calculate carefully between the benefits and costs of the policy to avoid creating greater negative effects.
The WFH-1 policy plan itself emerged amid global pressures due to the surge in world oil prices.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to geopolitical conflicts has driven Brent oil prices to breach 112.19 US dollars per barrel on 20 March 2026.
As a net importer country, the rise in oil prices has a significant impact on the national economy, from swelling BBM subsidies, increasing imported inflation, to weakening the rupiah exchange rate which once reached Rp 17,000 per US dollar.
This policy is estimated to save BBM consumption by up to 20 percent if implemented consistently.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this policy is still considered a challenge.
Changing societal work patterns is not easy without strong driving factors.
He added that the success of WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic was supported by strict activity restriction factors.
Meanwhile, in the current conditions, there is no sufficiently strong coercive factor.
“Without coercive variables, it is very difficult for WFH-1 to be implemented consistently,” he asserted.