Puan Stresses Public Services Must Be Maximised Despite ASN Working from Home on Fridays

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani has reminded that the policy of working from home (WFH) every Friday for civil servants (ASN), aimed at responding to global energy dynamics, must be implemented while maintaining public service productivity.

“WFH for ASN is not merely about flexibility, but about whether the state continues to function when offices are not fully staffed. The flexibility of ASN work will be judged by whether the state still serves the people promptly,” Puan said in a written statement on Thursday, 2 April 2026.

The House supports the government’s efforts towards effectiveness and adaptability. Nevertheless, Puan stated that it is a collective concern to ensure public services continue to operate as they should.

According to her, the public does not care where ASN work, but evaluates whether documents are still completed on time, administrative services remain responsive, and state decisions are present without additional delays.

“Public trust is built not by changes in rules, but by whether the public still feels the state is working at the same rhythm,” she said.

Puan stated that the ASN WFH policy can be part of bureaucratic modernisation if it truly drives a shift in orientation from physical presence to measurable performance.

However, she believes flexibility will only be accepted by the public if it does not create the impression that the state’s workspace is becoming more distant from societal needs.

“In that context, the success of this policy depends on each agency’s ability to ensure that services directly touching the people do not experience slowdowns, especially in units that deal with citizen administration daily,” she said.

This policy is said to convey that modern bureaucracy is not determined by the number of employees in the office, but by the system’s ability to maintain consistent work results in all forms of work systems.

“Bureaucratic flexibility will gain public legitimacy when changes in work patterns make the state appear more adaptive without losing accuracy in serving the public,” she said.

Additionally, she highlighted the importance of implementation standards in the ASN WFH policy. In this regard, effective oversight is deemed necessary to ensure ASN remain productive in carrying out their duties even when not working from the office.