RELOCATION OF THE NEW CAPITAL: WHAT ARE CIVIL SERVANTS' CONCERNS?

Abstract

Environmental, economic, and social factors are driving the discourse over relocating the Indonesian State Capital from Jakarta to IKN Nusantara in East Kalimantan. Certain Civil Servants, who deliver as the administration's spine, will inevitably change workplace following the transfer to the New State Capital. Civil servants must be open to being placed wherever the needs of the country require, but what they have on the inside may influence their support. The main objective of this study is to investigate how the discourse has affected the civil servants and what are their true concerns. This research is a qualitative study, in which open-ended online survey data was collected from 87 civil servants of various agencies. The data was then analysed thematically. The research findings show that civil servants are concerned about their well-being, moral burden, and the efficacy of the strategy. The contribution of this study is by providing decision-makers with information that will allow them to anticipate these concerns and avoid impeding civil servants’ ability to perform at their best. This study also fills the literature review gaps in regards to the transfer of civil servants to new capital cities from the perspective of employee.