Indonesia’s Public Holidays: Great News for the Relaxed, Horrific News for the Hustlers

Indonesia, the tropical paradise famous for its stunning beaches, legendary sambal, and—let’s not forget—the most indulgent holiday calendar this side of the equator. Here, public servants and office workers float through the year on a cloud of government-mandated breaks, delighting in the sheer abundance of time off. For them, it's a land where the alarm clock barely gets a chance to work, and email auto-replies are practically a second language.

Of course, not everyone shares this holiday bliss. Founders and sales teams? Oh, they’re the unspoken casualties of this national pastime. While everyone else is busy updating their Instagram with vacation selfies, these poor souls are left staring at stalled revenue charts and unanswered emails. Because who needs to close deals or hit targets when the government has generously gifted you another collective leave day?

But let's be fair. Isn’t it dreamy to have someone else curate your year for you? No stressful "when should I take leave" debates—just follow the herd into another stretch of downtime. Sure, B2B professionals might gnash their teeth in frustration, but that’s the price of living in paradise, right?

Public Holidays: A National Sport Everyone Wins—Except Founders and Sales Reps

In Indonesia, public holidays aren’t just dates on a calendar—they’re a way of life, practically a national sport. With 17 national public holidays plus a bonus round of 10 collective leave days, employees in government, admin, and buy-side roles are living the dream. And who can blame them? Their biggest challenge is composing the perfect out-of-office email. They sign off with something like, “Back after the holidays!”—knowing full well that the “holidays” never really end.

But what about founders and sales professionals? They’re the losers in this grand game. These poor souls are left clutching their metaphorical bags, watching as deals gather dust and revenue takes an extended nap. Operations grind to a halt, timelines become a joke, and the ever-elusive concept of predictability might as well be a myth.

Take the plight of the B2B sales rep. By the time they’re dialing their 27th unanswered call, their optimism is as drained as their coffee cup. Meanwhile, their foreign boss—oblivious to the joys of Cuti Bersama—is pacing furiously, demanding to know why deals haven’t closed. After all, it’s business as usual in Germany! But not here. Here, even revenue gets to relax during holiday season.

It’s a perfect storm of global disconnect. On one end, the world moves on; on the other, Indonesia collectively kicks back, blissfully unbothered. Founders and sales reps are left bridging this chasm, juggling holiday calendars while trying to explain to clients why yet another follow-up email will have to wait. The reality? In Indonesia, public holidays are a win-win—unless you happen to be in the business of getting things done.

"We’ll Get Back to You After the Holiday Season" (Which Never Ends)

In Indonesia, public holidays have a peculiar tendency to stretch and multiply like a rabbit population with no natural predators. Take Eid al-Fitr, for example: officially, it’s a two-day affair. But why stop there when you can tack on an additional five collective leave days? Christmas? That’s not just December 25th—it’s an excuse to extend through New Year’s and sometimes even a bit into January, because, who’s counting? And let’s not forget when the government casually declares bonus holidays—just because. It’s the kind of productivity kryptonite that only a bureaucrat could love.

For certain businesses—say, a beachfront café or a souvenir shop—this isn’t just fine, it’s fantastic. Let the tourists flock in, let the sarongs fly off the racks. But for a tech startup founder or B2B operator, this holiday bonanza is the stuff of recurring nightmares. Your team? Disappeared. Your customers? Unreachable. Your investors? Confused and annoyed. “Wait, what do you mean your developers are out for two weeks? How is the product supposed to launch?”

Explaining the concept of Cuti Bersama to foreign clients is another challenge entirely. “Why the delay?” they ask, with a growing impatience that suggests you’ve personally insulted their quarterly targets. You mutter something about government-mandated leave, to which they respond with that incredulous look that says, Why don’t you just ignore it? Except, that’s not how it works here.

Meanwhile, as the rest of the world marches on with their regular business cycles, Indonesian companies limp forward, playing the long game of catch-up. You could argue it’s a cultural quirk, but to founders and salespeople, it feels more like a cruel joke—one that costs revenue, reputation, and maybe a bit of sanity.

Productivity? Never Heard of Her

Labor productivity—a term that, in Indonesia, might as well be an urban legend. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the average Indonesian worker generates a humble USD 14/hour. Compare that to Malaysia at USD 26/hour or Singapore’s astronomical USD 74/hour, and it’s clear we’re not exactly winning the regional productivity Olympics. But who needs to compete when you’ve got 24 holidays a year?

It doesn’t take an economist to notice the link between endless days off and these productivity numbers. Could it be that taking nearly 10% of the year off work has an effect? Shocking revelation, I know. While Malaysia and Singapore churn out efficiency and innovation, Indonesia collectively kicks back, leaving founders to watch their quarterly projections slide into oblivion like a sled on a snowy hill.

For founders, these productivity gaps aren’t just frustrating; they’re existential threats. Every missed day in manufacturing means another delayed shipment. Every government office closure means approvals pile up like forgotten dishes in the sink. And every extended holiday means cash flow that should be moving is stuck in the equivalent of business purgatory.

Want to keep operations running during the holiday season? Great—just be ready to pay overtime rates that feel like setting your wallet on fire for the privilege of keeping the lights on. And for startups with razor-thin margins, this kind of financial acrobatics simply isn’t feasible.

Meanwhile, your peers in Singapore are closing deals, developing products, and inventing new technologies while you’re still waiting for a procurement manager to return from their third holiday of the year. It’s a sobering reality for anyone trying to compete on a global scale when half the team—and the entire country—seems perpetually out of office.

The Great Divide: Buy-Side Bliss vs. Sell-Side Hell

Indonesia’s holiday culture isn’t exactly an equal-opportunity phenomenon. On the buy-side of business, it’s a utopia. Procurement managers, admin officers, and government employees are living their best lives, enjoying deadlines so flexible they might as well be optional. Who cares if things run late? Their KPIs don’t exactly hinge on making sure the wheels of commerce keep spinning. In fact, you could argue their job security thrives on inefficiency. Contributing to national GDP? That’s someone else’s problem.

Now flip to the sell-side. Here, in the cold, unforgiving world of founders and B2B sales, it’s a never-ending purgatory. Stalled decisions? Check. Unanswered emails? Of course. And don’t forget the holidays—always perfectly timed to derail quarterly targets. For revenue-dependent roles, Indonesia’s love of long weekends is less a celebration and more a professional death sentence. You can’t close deals with ghosts, and during collective leave, that’s essentially who you’re dealing with.

Picture this: you’re on a Zoom call with investors, trying to explain why revenue numbers have missed the mark. “Well, you see,” you say sheepishly, “our biggest client disappeared for two weeks to celebrate Idul Adha.” The silence on the other end of the call speaks volumes. Investors don’t want excuses; they want results. And results are hard to deliver when the entire system is on holiday.

Your own team might not even be around to soften the blow. In true holiday spirit, they’ve vanished too, leaving you to explain the unexplainable. Meanwhile, rent, salaries, and operational costs continue to mount. Because if there’s one thing that never takes a break, it’s overhead. In this great divide, one thing is crystal clear: the buy-side gets bliss, while the sell-side gets burned.

Here’s the cold, hard truth: Indonesia’s holiday culture is a dream come true—so long as you’re not the one footing the bill. For government workers, admin staff, and buy-side professionals, it’s a balance of work and leisure, perfectly choreographed to ensure maximum downtime. For founders, sales reps, and private-sector leaders? It’s less a balance and more a relentless marathon through quicksand, carrying the weight of stalled revenues and unanswered emails.

The math is simple: fewer working days, lower productivity, and disrupted operations equal a headache-inducing business environment. Sure, it’s easy to wax poetic about work-life balance when your paycheck doesn’t depend on closing deals or meeting revenue targets. But for those in the trenches this system is a cruel joke wrapped in a holiday bow.

So, here’s a toast to the overlooked warriors of Indonesia’s economy: the sales teams cold-calling their way through deserted offices, the founders explaining missed targets to bemused investors, and every business leader staring at charts that scream Singapore is lapping you.

But don’t despair—another long weekend is just around the corner. Take a breath. Or better yet, prepare for yet another bout of “rest.”