The Fate of Public Services on Fridays When Civil Servants Work from Home: Will They Remain Excellent or Slow Down?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - For decades, citizens have believed that bureaucratic matters can only be resolved by coming in person, queuing, and meeting face-to-face with officials at the office. Even amid increasingly advanced technological progress, some members of the public still prefer handling bureaucratic affairs directly at public service offices. Therefore, although several public service sectors now provide applications for citizens to access from home, people still prefer going directly to the office. However, starting from 1 April 2026, some citizens have begun to feel anxious because the government is implementing the Work From Home (WFH) programme for Civil Servants (ASN) and private employees to save energy. “As citizens, there is concern about the lack of personnel at service locations,” said one Jakarta resident named Maryono (58), when met by Kompas.com at the DKI Jakarta Civil Registration and Population Office, Friday (8/6/2026). Maryono admitted that he prefers handling population documents in person rather than through applications or online. Because at his age, which is no longer young, he often finds it difficult to manage population documents online. Meanwhile, when handling it directly and encountering difficulties, he can immediately ask for help from the officials. Like Maryono, another Jakarta resident named Tiris (42) is also worried that WFH activities will reduce public services. “It’s scary that public services will decline, no longer optimal,” he said at the same location, Friday. Stemming from public anxiety, Kompas.com tried directly handling a photo replacement for the Identity Card (KTP) at the Jakarta Civil Registry Office in Grogol, West Jakarta, Friday (8/5/2026). Kompas.com arrived at the location around 11:00 WIB and, upon entering the Civil Registry Office, was immediately greeted by security personnel who promptly assisted arriving guests in taking queue numbers. “What do you want to handle, Ma’am?” said the security personnel at the location. After knowing the purpose of the guest, the security personnel would give a queue number, and one just had to wait to be called. The queue number obtained was 31. Then, there were about five counters that remained active in serving citizens directly, even on a WFH day. Although other ASN were WFH, the Civil Registry officials remained busy providing public services to help citizens handle population documents. After waiting for nearly half an hour, Kompas.com’s queue number was called by one of the officials. With a smile, the official immediately asked about the purpose of Kompas.com’s visit to the Civil Registry Office.