Will Private Sector Workers Be Required to Work from Home? Here's the Leak from the Manpower Minister
Manpower Minister (Menaker) Yassierli stated that his ministry will soon announce a circular (SE) urging Work From Home (WFH) and an Energy Optimisation Programme at workplaces for private companies, State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), and Regional State-Owned Enterprises (BUMD).
“Regarding the circular (SE) and the Energy Optimisation Programme at workplaces for private companies, BUMN, and BUMD, we will soon announce it to friends in the media and the public,” Yassierli said during a press conference monitored online in Jakarta on Tuesday (31/3).
The government has officially implemented a WFH policy for Civil Servants (ASN) every Friday, effective from 1 April 2026, to be evaluated after two months of implementation.
“The implementation of work from home for ASN in central and regional agencies, for one working day per week, namely every Friday, is regulated through a circular (SE) from the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (MenpanRB) and a SE from the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri),” said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto.
Not only for ASN, the government is also urging WFH and the Energy Optimisation Programme at workplaces for private companies, BUMN, and BUMD.
The regulation will be stipulated through a SE from the Minister of Manpower, while still considering the characteristics and needs of each business sector.
However, Coordinating Minister Airlangga detailed several sectors exempted from the WFH policy, including public service sectors such as health, security, and cleanliness.
Additionally, strategic sectors such as industry, energy, water, basic commodities, food and beverages, trade, transportation, logistics, and finance.
In the education sector, teaching and learning activities for primary to secondary levels will continue to be conducted face-to-face for five days a week without restrictions.
Meanwhile, for higher education, particularly from the fourth semester upwards, implementation will adjust to policies from relevant ministries.
The Directorate General of Corrections (Ditjenpas) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights is preparing a work-from-home (WFH) scheme.
The government-promoted work-from-home (WFH) policy is projected to have a significant impact on state budget efficiency.
Apindo General Chairman Shinta Widjaja Kamdani views the plan to urge work from home (WFH) one day per week as understandable as the government’s step in responding to global dynamics.
Although ASN are allowed to work remotely, supervision will be conducted strictly based on digital means to ensure productivity remains maintained.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto emphasised that several business sectors will not follow the work-from-home (WFH) policy, such as the health and energy sectors.