Government Extends WFH for Civil Servants for the Next Two Months

The government has announced an extension of the work from home (WFH) policy for civil servants (ASN). Civil servants will continue to observe WFH every Friday for at least the next two months.

Economy Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the move was taken because the conflict in the Middle East has not yet ended. ‘In the current situation where the war has not ended, WFH will be continued for the next two months,’ he said after a limited meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, on Thursday, 21 May 2026.

In the meeting, Airlangga said Prabowo also discussed various other policies in the economic sector, including various economic incentives being prepared by the government. ‘To prompt the economy to move in the second quarter,’ he added.

Previously, the government had implemented WFH once a week for ASN starting 1 April 2026. The Friday WFH policy was a measure to save fuel amid volatile global oil prices resulting from the war between the United States and Israel against Iran in the Middle East.

The WFH scheme is regulated through circular letters from the Minister of State Apparatus Reform and Bureaucratic Reform and the Minister of Home Affairs. The policy also aims to promote a digital-based government governance.

Friday was chosen for WFH because work on that day is not as busy as other days. However, some sectors are exempt from the WFH policy for ASN. Public service sectors such as health, security, and sanitation still work from offices.

The WFH policy for civil servants and private sector employees has emerged since mid-March 2026. President Prabowo Subianto, in a cabinet meeting at the State Palace, urged energy-saving measures.

Prabowo considered WFH as a measure to anticipate the impact of the global crisis, especially after the spike in world oil prices resulting from the United States and Israel’s war against Iran that erupted in late February 2026.