Facing the Global Situation, the Government Announces 8 Work Culture Transformations and Energy Saving Movement

Seoul, South Korea - Responding to the uncertain global situation, the Government announced eight major steps in the transformation of the work culture as well as an energy-saving movement that will begin to be implemented on April 1, 2026.

This policy not only targets state apparatus, but also the private sector and the wider community, as part of efforts to increase budget efficiency and a more sustainable lifestyle change.

This was conveyed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto in Seoul, Korea, Tuesday, March 31.

First, in this new scheme, state civil servants (ASN) will begin to undergo a flexible work pattern by working from home (WFH) one day a week, namely every Friday. This policy applies to both central and regional ASN. The government also limits the use of official vehicles to a maximum of 50 percent and encourages a shift to public transportation and electric vehicles. Not only that, official travel is also significantly reduced by 50 percent for domestic travel and 70 percent for overseas travel.

Meanwhile, in the public space, local governments are encouraged to expand the implementation of car-free days, both in terms of duration, days, and coverage of areas, adjusting to the characteristics of each area.

Second, similar transformations are also directed to the private sector. Although it is still in the form of an appeal through the circulation of the Minister of Manpower, companies are encouraged to implement WFH and promote energy efficiency in their respective work environments. Third, the government emphasizes that a number of sectors must continue to run normally from the office and field.

Public services such as health, security, cleanliness, and population administration continue to operate fully. The private strategic sector, ranging from industry, energy, logistics, to finance, is also not affected by the WFH policy.

Meanwhile, in the field of education, learning activities for elementary to secondary schools will continue to take place face to face five days a week without restrictions on extracurricular activities.

Fourth, the government also invites the public to take part in this movement. Starting from simple habits such as saving electricity at home and at work, to switching to public transportation.

Even though there are adjustments to work patterns, the public is still urged to maintain productivity and carry out activities as usual.

Fifth, this WFH policy will continue to be evaluated every two months. Sixth, from the budget side, this policy is projected to have a major impact. The implementation of WFH for ASN is estimated to be able to save up to IDR 6.2 trillion from the state budget.

In addition, the government is also refocusing the budgets of ministries and agencies with potential efficiencies of up to Rp121.2 trillion to Rp130.2 trillion, which will be transferred to more productive spending, including for post-disaster reconstruction.

Seventh, in the energy sector, concrete steps have also been prepared. The B50 biodiesel program will be implemented on July 1, 2026, which is expected to reduce the use of fossil fuels by up to 4 million kiloliters.

The public is also urged to be more wise in using subsidized fuel through the MyPertamina barcode system, with a reasonable filling of one full per day for personal vehicles.

Meanwhile, the eighth point, the provision of nutritious food (MBG) program is also optimized with a distribution scheme of five days a week. For lagging, leading, and outermost areas (3T), regions with high stunting rates, and boarding schools, the program continues to run as usual.

Through this policy, the government hopes to create a more adaptive work culture as well as a collective awareness to live energy-efficiently.