JAKARTA: “I’ve experienced working from home (WFH) a few times, but it actually tends to slow things down,” says Aci, a millennial civil servant.
“The bureaucracy is already lengthy as it is, and it just becomes even longer.”
Aci is one of the workers who described the WFH policy as cumbersome and stressful amid the government’s plan to require civil servants and encourage private sector employees to work from home one day a week to reduce fuel consumption amid the Iran war.
Instead, they suggested alternatives such as public transportation reform and improving fuel efficiency in carbon-intensive production processes, rather than restricting people’s mobility.
According to Aci, while she supports the general idea of reducing fuel consumption, she personally finds the WFH scheme less effective for her work.
“There’s a lot of work that requires direct coordination, and meetings also aren’t very conducive when conducted online.
“I think it’s also because of an age factor, since most people at my workplace are boomers,” she said.
“We’ve tried holding online meetings, such as discussions on local regulations, several times, but the discussions become slower and don’t achieve the targeted outcomes.”
She acknowledged that a one-day-a-week policy might still be manageable, although implementation details in her unit have not yet been announced.
While Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has said a rough calculation suggested the policy could cut fuel use by up to 20%, analysts have raised concerns about its effectiveness.
The Centre of Reform on Economics said that while the policy could help reduce fuel consumption in congested cities, the 20% savings estimated is too high, as only about 32% of workers would be affected, putting annual national savings below 10%.
The Confederation of Indonesian Workers’ Unions further noted that civil servants account for only a small share of the workforce, with around 5.58 million permanent and contract employees out of 146 million employed Indonesians, or about 3.8%.
The government’s call for private companies to adopt a similar WFH policy may also have limited impact, as many firms that are able to implement the scheme have already done so post-pandemic.
Mutia, a public relations practitioner, said her office has adopted a hybrid working system since the pandemic, requiring employees to work from the office three days a week and remotely for two days.
She said the policy also faces structural limits, as not all sectors can adopt remote work, particularly production-based industries.
“Many private sector workers are in production-related roles, not just administrative ones, and those in production simply can’t work from home, so it’s fair to question how effective this programme really is,” she said.
She also questioned why fuel-saving efforts focus on worker mobility rather than production processes.
“I think fuel consumption is actually highest not at the individual level, if I’m not mistaken, but in companies, especially in production and business processes, which are more carbon-intensive,” she said.
Aside from that, WFH may even shift the energy burden rather than reduce it, according to Mutia.
“WFH schemes may put pressure on someone mentally because of household responsibilities along with work, or they may shift a lot of the costs to the individual worker, such as Internet and electricity,” she said.
She further noted that the arrangement could widen gender disparities, as women are often expected to juggle work with childcare and housework while at home.
Similarly, Ghaniya, who works in distribution and logistics, also said that remote work can be more costly and stressful.
“In the context of saving fuel, it’s actually less effective.
“From personal experience, you still end up going out during WFH to balance things, since for some people working from home is less effective. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
