Is WFH Effective in Reducing Electricity and Fuel Consumption?
The government plans to implement a work-from-home (WFH) policy for Civil Servants (ASN) and private sector employees after Eid 2026. This measure is aimed at budgetary efficiency amid the surge in global oil prices due to the war in the Middle East.
“With the high oil prices, there is a need for work time efficiency, where flexibility for work from home will be opened for one day in five working days,” said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto during a press conference on Wednesday, 18 March 2026.
Energy economist and lecturer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Fahmy Radhi believes it will be very difficult to enforce the consequences of WFH on ASN and private sector employees. This is because the policy involves changing employees’ work patterns.
He stated that if the one-day WFH scenario is applied on Fridays, employees might not work from home but instead work from anywhere (WFA) at tourist spots while enjoying a long weekend. “Thus, fuel consumption cannot be saved significantly,” he said in a written statement on Sunday, 22 March 2026.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, WFH was quite successful in saving fuel because there was a compulsion variable to avoid Covid-19 infection. This variable is absent in the one-day WFH policy to be implemented. Without such compulsion as before, it will be very difficult for WFH to be implemented consistently.
In addition, he assessed that one day of WFH risks reducing income for the transportation sector, including online motorcycle taxi services or ojol, and small and medium enterprise (UMKM) stalls that have been providing lunch for ASN and private sector workers, as well as other businesses.
Mandating one-day WFH for private sector workers in the manufacturing sector will also reduce work productivity, which is detrimental to that sector. “The government should consider this carefully by calculating the cost and benefit of WFH-1 meticulously. Do not let the implementation of WFH-1 provide benefits in saving fuel subsidies, but other sectors have to bear the costs,” said Fahmy.
Lecturer in economics at the National Development University or UPN Veteran Jakarta, Achmad Nur Hidayat, also expressed a similar view. “When people do not go to work, fuel consumption decreases and congestion can be reduced. However, household energy use also increases,” he said.
According to him, the potential for savings is quite large. High congestion means every reduction in trips has a direct impact on energy use. Therefore, the WFA policy does indeed have the potential to help energy efficiency, especially if implemented in a measured way in sectors that allow it.
However, working from home should not be seen as the main solution. If offices continue to operate as usual while employees work from home, the savings become very small. “Lights, air conditioning, lifts, and office equipment remain on, while households also add to electricity consumption. In this situation, what happens is not efficiency, but merely a shift in the burden,” he said.
Previously, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that this policy applies to ASN and is also recommended for the private sector. “(The WFH regulation) will be detailed. But after Eid, we will implement it. For ASN as well as recommendations for the private sector. But not for those working in public service sectors,” said Airlangga on Saturday, 21 March 2026, as quoted from Antara.