Proposal for Civil Servants to Work from Home One Day a Week Welcomed Positively: Enables Work-Life Balance

JAKARTA – The government’s proposal to implement a work-from-home (WFH) system one day per week for civil servants (ASN) has received a positive response.

Dimas (29), a staff member at one of the Sub-District Offices in DKI Jakarta, said he strongly supports the plan. According to him, the policy will create a balance between work and personal life, or work-life balance.

“I totally agree. For me personally, the main reason is work-life balance and time efficiency. Especially since my home is in Bekasi. Every day, I spend nearly three hours or more on the road just for the round trip,” said Dimas when interviewed by Kompas.com on Friday (27/3/2026).

Due to the considerable distance between his home and office, Dimas often feels exhausted during the commute, even before starting work. With a one-day-per-week WFH system, commuting fatigue could be reduced.

Dimas, whose work involves data and research, believes this system is very suitable for his job, which can be done without needing to come to the office.

“In fact, sometimes at the office, time gets interrupted, with lots of distractions. If WFH for work that can be done remotely, just find a comfortable and quiet place,” he said.

The culture so far has been that work is only visible if you’re at the office; if it’s WFA or WFH, it’s thought to be like a holiday. But many come just to leave at four in the afternoon, without knowing what work they did,” explained Erwin.

Erwin believes that WFH will actually change the work culture to be results-oriented.

Daily work targets and work progress journals are considered one way to keep work organised.

“Because like this, if someone WFH one day but doesn’t do anything, the progress will show. Even if I WFH but make little progress, I feel pressured myself, so it pushes me to be more productive,” he said.

In addition, operational savings are also an important consideration.

He gave an example of several private offices that have implemented a one-day WFH system as a form of efficiency in manpower and finances.

“My child’s office even does WFH on Fridays, so only a few teams are at the office. If the government does that, it can save too—save on electricity, water; government buildings are many,” he said.

Dimas stated that there is no need to worry about the supervision system potentially weakening if this proposal is realised.