On Thursday (12/18/2025), the government urged companies to give employees the opportunity to work from anywhere, known as work from anywhere (WFA), from December 29-31, 2025.

This is being done to optimize public mobility during Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 (Nataru).

"We also urge companies to provide opportunities for workers or laborers to implement policies, such as Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) or the more common Work From Anywhere (WFA)," said Minister of Manpower Yassierli during a press conference at the Jakarta Creative Hub, Central Jakarta, Thursday (12/18).

Yassierli said that his office is preparing a circular letter regarding the appeal for companies to implement WFA.

The WFA policy may still be exempted in important sectors, including public services such as healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, shopping centers, the food and beverage industry, and other essential sectors.

"The rule also does not apply to sectors related to the continuity of production in factories," he said.

In response to this, the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) believes that it is not possible to apply this policy uniformly across all sectors.

According to Apindo Chair Shinta Kamdani, certain sectors that require physical presence, such as the manufacturing industry, which requires workers to be present, cannot be done remotely.

"Not all sectors can implement WFA. Perhaps the creative industry can work anywhere," he told SUAR Jakarta (18/12).

He appealed to owners of companies engaged in other fields to comply with government regulations without disrupting their office operations.

"For sectors that can implement WFA, it is expected that they can adjust their operations in each company," he said.

Indonesia, as the largest country in ASEAN, is highly dependent on the manufacturing sector as the main driver of its economy, with the largest contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to the Executive Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), Esther Sri Astuti, this WFA policy will not boost people's purchasing power but rather encourage productivity by freeing them from traffic jams.

"But this can only apply to certain types of work. Not all jobs can implement WFA. For example, if factory workers, civil servants who provide public services, salespeople, flight attendants, pilots, etc. implement WFA, it will disrupt the company's productivity. WFA can only be implemented for lecturers and researchers, for example," he said.

Not counted as annual leave

Yassierli also asked companies to continue paying employees' wages in accordance with their agreements and not to count WFA as annual leave.

"Working from anywhere or flexible working arrangements are not counted as annual leave. Employees and workers who implement them continue to carry out their work in accordance with their duties and responsibilities," Yassierli emphasized.

He also ensured that workers' wages during the implementation of WFA were paid in accordance with the wages received when performing work at their usual place of work or in accordance with the agreed wages.

Previously, the government also implemented this work pattern ahead of Eid al-Fitr. WFA in government agencies will take place from March 24 to 27, 2025, to support the smooth flow of Eid al-Fitr homecoming traffic.

WFA or Flexible Working Arrangement ( FWA) is a flexible work system that gives employees the freedom to manage their working hours and location according to their needs, without compromising productivity.

"We want to encourage economic activity among the community, so flexible working arrangements are in place. Working in the office is fine, but working anywhere is also fine," said Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Rini Widyantini at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday (18/12).

For the remainder of 2025, it has been agreed between the Minister of Religious Affairs, the Minister of Manpower, and the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform that December 25 (Christmas), December 26 (collective leave), and January 1, 2026 (New Year's Day) will be public holidays.

During that period, the government decided to implement WFA for civil servants.

The Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform emphasized that the WFA policy is specifically for civil servants, from the central to regional levels, including state employees within the Indonesian National Armed Forces and National Police headquarters.

He admitted that he had issued a letter to all government agency leaders to implement WFA from December 29 to 31 while continuing to provide various public services so that the community could still be served.

"The public can still submit reports directly on the government's performance through www.lapor.co.id," he said.

Chris Wibisana contributed to this article.