Firstly this news is exciting, not so much the move to a Saturday and Sunday weekend as this ultimately had to happen to align the UAE with global markets and support the country’s increasing global status.
The excitement is really in the move to a reduced working week to 4.5 days and yet again shows the forward thinking of the UAE and its rulers. Not for the first time leading the way globally.
The important factor here though will not be so much the move to a 4 or 4.5 day working week but how private sector companies engage this and ensuring they do so with the right attitude.
There is the risk, if imposed, that some companies may just seek to further extend the working hours per day. There is still a culture of working extended hours here and if a 4.5 day working week was imposed some employers may just make up the perceived lost time by extending the working day hours over the remaining 4.5 days. It’s about working smarter.
Over the last few years there has been much research done into the relationship between time (working hours) and productivity in the workplace, and from the positive results seen, a number of organisations all over the world are now trialling a 4 day working week or variations thereof.
Much of the research showed that an 80 percent reduction in the working hours delivered at least the same, or in some cases higher, levels of productivity. However, one area of caution would be whether this is sustainable over a long period of time.
What will be of paramount importance to ensuring reduced working hours will have a long-term positive effect on business performance and productivity will be employee wellbeing, engagement, communication, team-cohesion, focus, and time-management and building employee/individual resilience.
We have been working flexi hours at ICAS MENA for some time now and will move to the Saturday/Sunday weekend from January 1, 2022.
Paul Firth, managing director – ICAS MENA
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