East Java ASN WFH Not on Fridays, Here's Khofifah's Reason
The East Java Provincial Government is finalising the scheme for implementing Work From Home (WFH) for civil servants (ASN) in the province. However, it will not opt for Fridays due to the potential for significant negative impacts.
“The provincial government has conducted simulations regarding this programme; initially, Friday was considered as an option. However, the evaluation results showed, ‘If it’s on Friday, there’s a tendency for it to extend into a long weekend. This is what we want to avoid,’ said East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa in Surabaya on Wednesday (25/3).”
Khofifah did not designate Friday for WFH in order to save fuel oil (BBM). According to her, implementing WFH on Fridays close to long weekends could instead increase energy consumption.
According to Khofifah, based on simple calculations, the average distance travelled by employees to the office is around 14 kilometres one way or 28 kilometres round trip each day.
If WFH is placed on Friday, she stressed, the likelihood of people travelling—whether for going home or recreation—would increase. This condition is seen as counter to the initial efficiency goals.
“If every week becomes a long weekend, fuel consumption could actually rise due to mobility for recreation or other trips; this is what we strongly want to avoid,” she emphasised.
Therefore, the East Java Provincial Government has decided that the WFH scheme will be placed mid-week. Starting next week, the policy is scheduled to take place every Wednesday.
“It will be announced soon; starting next week, our WFH will fall on Wednesday. So it doesn’t trigger a long weekend,” she explained.
With this pattern, the work rhythm of ASN is expected to remain optimal. Monday and Tuesday are used for full office activities, Wednesday for working from home, then Thursday and Friday back to maximum office work.
Governor Khofifah mentioned that the WFH trend has actually been implemented earlier in several ministries since the beginning of the year.
“In Jakarta, it’s already starting now with WFH. Actually, since last January, almost all ministries have had WFH,” she said.
Nevertheless, she emphasised that the concept applied is WFH, not Work From Anywhere (WFA). According to her, this difference is important to ensure that employee work discipline is maintained.
“WFH, not WFA. If it’s anywhere, it could be at tourist spots, cafes, anywhere. But if at home, family members can monitor that the person is really working,” she clarified.
Khofifah assessed that the presence of family members at home actually serves as an effective social control. Thus, ASN work activities remain monitored and not misused for other interests outside of work.
Khofifah stressed that the implementation of WFH must not disrupt the quality of public services. She asked all regional apparatus organisations (OPD) to ensure that services to the public continue normally without hindrance.
“Today, all our services must run 100 percent. Nothing should be reduced,” she firmly stated.