According to local media reports, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development is considering whether to institute a three-day weekend in order to shorten the workweek.
The ministry’s Twitter support account responded to a question on social media by stating that it is now looking at the work system and considering whether to make the weekend three days long.
The potential adjustment is being examined as part of the ministry’s cyclical evaluation, in which experts will examine how to boost job creation and raise the market’s allure for domestic and foreign investments.
A draft of a shorter work week has also been sent out through the country’s survey platform for public consultation, the ministry added.
If implemented, Saudi Arabia would be the second Arab country after the United Arab Emirates to implement shorter work weeks.
Let’s say that the United Arab Emirates was the first country in the GCC to change its two-day weekend and system; from January 1, 2022, the UAE government adopted a new four-and-a-half-day work week, starting Monday.
The Thursday work day starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m., while on Friday the work hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
