Written by: Rokhmatu Siva’

Pros & Cons of WFH in the middle of Coronavirus Disease

As of April 30, 2020, there were 10.118 positive cases of corona in Indonesia, of which
1522 were declared cured and 792 died. Since WHO established Covid-19 as a global
pandemic, President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, instructs all people to stay at home and not
to do outside activities except certain conditions or emergencies. However, the policy to carry
out activities at home reap the pros and cons of the community, especially about working from
home which is really affecting daily business operations.
Work from home is a concept when employees can do their tasks/jobs from their home.
Basically, it allows employees to work flexible hours and not be too bound by 8 hours of rules.
In fact, it can help employees to balance work life and daily life. Working from home is also
believed to make work done faster, more effective, and efficient.
Firstly, work from home allows employees to be more flexible while working. Normally,
employees in the office spend their time mostly in front of their monitors. When WFH,
employees can freely adjust their work atmosphere so that they do not easily get bored.
Secondly, employees don't need to spend money on transportation or gasoline costs. They
can also save time on the trip. In addition, by working from home, employees have more time
with family even though during working hours everyone is busy with their work. Working at
home accompanied by a beloved wife or seeing their kids playing or learning will make work
motivation increases.
Nevertheless, not a few problems or disadvantages experienced by employees in
undergoing WFH. The motivation of some employees increased during WFH, but vice versa
in some other employees. The reasons are quite diverse, for example, the working
atmosphere is not as expected, the atmosphere of the house is not like an office, distracted
by social media and other entertainment, and so on. Moreover, when employees work at home
the possibility of electricity and internet costs will swell due to continuous use. It is different
when working in an office, the company bears the cost of electricity and the internet. Beside
cost impact, network stability is the most common issue occurs during WFH. When in the
middle of an online meeting the internet suddenly disconnected or when accessing an office
server via a VPN is very slow, so the work is hampered. It is a very annoying problem when
working from home. In fact, not all companies can apply the principle of WFH, as
recommended by the government. For example, Meinhardt EPCM Indonesia must accept the
consequences of implementing WFH. All construction works at several locations which are
Meinhardt's main business lines for the Shell Project must be closed and only work on the
design and administration process. If Meinhardt decides to continue fieldwork with government
approval, much preparation must be done which will have an impact on the costs incurred to
support work in accordance with the Covid-19 protocol. In addition, due to the PSBB policy,
limiting the number of people in an environment also results in longer project work times.
In conclusion, work from home can be done effectively if both the company and
employees are equally responsible. Both parties must understand more about the conditions
that occur while providing the best performance possible, even though they are working in
different places. Try to maximize communication to avoid things that are not desirable.
Properly utilizing technology, make a to-do list include the expected output. The hope is that
the company and employees will not spend even a single day of work from home with non-
productivity.
Finally, happy working from home and safely completing your responsibilities. Let's
keep Indonesia together and pray together so that the COVID-19 outbreak ends soon so that
all business activities are normal again.