PDI-P Politician Asks Government to Explain Reasons for ASN Work from Home on Fridays

Jakarta - A member of the House of Representatives Commission II, Deddy Sitorus, has requested an explanation regarding the government’s policy to implement work from home (WFH) for civil servants (ASN) every Friday. The PDI-P politician assessed that the policy may not necessarily be effective in curbing petroleum fuel (BBM) consumption. “To be honest, I’m puzzled why Friday was chosen for WFH, as there is potential that it will not effectively reduce BBM consumption,” Deddy said when contacted on Wednesday (1/4/2026). He reminded that designating a WFH day needs to consider various aspects, from the psychosocial impacts on society to projections of economic activities. “I don’t understand the basis for choosing a long weekend as the WFH day, so we are waiting for the government’s explanation first,” he said. “Because deciding on a WFH day requires calculations on psychosocial factors, projections of economic activities, mobility patterns and public consumption, as well as many other calculations based on various scenarios,” he added. “We can then look at the graph of BBM consumption, mobility data for residents/vehicles from distribution and intensity. Let’s see after two or three weeks ahead, before conducting an evaluation,” he concluded. “The implementation of WFH for ASN in central and regional agencies will be carried out for one working day per week, namely every Friday,” said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto during a virtual press conference on Tuesday (31/3/2026). Airlangga explained that Friday was chosen because the working hours are relatively shorter compared to other working days. “We chose Friday because Friday is half a day, meaning not full like Monday to Thursday,” he stated. “Public services will continue to operate, and productive activities including banking, capital markets, and others will proceed. Those in the offices are permitted to arrange it with certain applications,” Airlangga added. He further noted that the policy will be further regulated through a Circular from the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform as well as the Minister of Home Affairs, with several sectors exempted. For information, this WFH policy is implemented as a response to the high global oil prices due to conflicts in the Middle East region. The government has conducted a study before establishing the policy.