Government Reviews One-Day WFH for Civil Servants and Private Sector, Effective After Eid

The government plans to implement a work from home (WFH) policy as a budgetary efficiency measure amid the impact of conflicts in the Middle East. The prepared scheme allows employees to work from home one day per week. Citing detikNews, Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, stated that the policy is still in the study phase. He explained that the surge in oil prices is one of the factors driving the need for efficiency, including in work time arrangements. “With high oil prices, efficiency in work time is needed. Flexibility for work from home will be opened. One day in five working days,” said Airlangga after a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, on Thursday (19/3/2026). Airlangga added that the government is preparing the technical aspects of implementing the policy. He hopes that the WFH implementation will not only apply to civil servants (ASN) but also be followed by the private sector and regional governments. “The technical details are being prepared, because it is hoped that this will not only apply to ASN but also to the private sector and regional governments,” he said. “We are preparing all of this, and once the concept is mature, we will immediately inform the public in more detail,” he continued. Airlangga said the WFH policy will be enforced after Eid. However, he did not specify the exact implementation date. “Post-Eid, but we will determine the timing later,” he stated. Previously, this WFH proposal had been put forward by Prabowo as a response to the impact of conflicts in the Middle East region. Prabowo drew from Pakistan’s example of reducing working hours to four days. “So they consider this critical, so it’s called critical measures. As if for them this is like our COVID back then. They implemented work from home for all offices, government and private, 50 percent working from home. Then, their working days were cut to only four days,” he said during the full cabinet plenary session at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Friday (13/3/2026). Not only that, Prabowo also discussed salary cuts for cabinet members and parliament like in Pakistan. “Many countries have already taken steps. Perhaps the Cabinet Secretary has a slide to inform how many steps. This is Pakistan’s step. This is just for comparison,” said Prabowo while displaying a graphic presentation about the Pakistani government’s measures in a crisis situation.