A third of govt employees to work from home in 2028

The government has plans to introduce a policy where a third of government employees would work from home from the year 2028 onwards, said President Dr Mohamed Muizzu on Friday night, during the inauguration of 'Maldives 2.0', which aims to revolutionize the country's digital scene.

Speaking at the launch of 'Maldives 2.0' or the 'Digital First Nation' project, the president said digitalization would reduce the number of employees working from office, and that the change would be implemented in early 2028.

President Muizzu said he intends to change the system so that employees can work from home but would still have to spend a certain amount of time in the office every month.

"My hope is that, even if we do not decide on this here today, our combined efforts' success overtime leading to one-third of the 49,000 employees currently in service across the state being able to work from home within the law by the beginning of 2028. In a way that they have to come to office for 30 hours or a certain amount of time each month," he said.

However, essential workers would still have to report to work in person, the president said. This includes those in the education and health sector.

This change would reduce the government's expenses towards employees and alleviate the traffic in Malé as well, he said, adding that the chemicals released from vehicles into the air would also be reduced with the move.

The President said he intends to make Maldives a developed country by 2040 and there are many aspects that need to be improved to reach that goal.

President Muizzu said one of the biggest things is to rid Maldives of the plague of corruption, highlighting that corruption is heavily ingrained within the service system. He said digitalizing would bring this to a stop.

“The more we digitalize and reduce human intervention, the more we will be saved from the plague of corruption,” he said.

The president highlighted that Estonia - which is one of the leading countries in the eradication of corruption index - is also one of the leading countries in digitalization. He said this was the result of digitalization and said the establishment of a digitalized system would also make it a transparent one.

The President said the digitalization work would be done over the next three years.

Under the project, the existing ID card will be converted into a smart card, he said, adding that other tasks would include strengthening cyber security.

Referring to Estonia's high press freedom index, the President said he believed it is also the result of digitalization.

According to President Muizzu, Maldives needs digitalization as much as it needs infrastructure development.

"Changing the management system is not a small task. Establishing a strong system that provides transparent services and information without any barriers..." he said.

The President acknowledged that it would be difficult to change the way offices have been working for many years but said that people can be made familiar with digitalization by providing necessary trainings.

A law relating to the entire project and the laws under it should also be made, the president said, adding that the administration would work to have the laws passed within the current administration.

He said this will start with the involvement of local councils, the judiciary and Parliament. The President also sought the cooperation of all in the efforts to make Maldives a country with a strong service delivery and management system that is accepted globally.