This Country Is Moving To A Shorter Workweek & Shifting Its Weekend Starting Next Year
They say they're the first in the world to make such a move 🌴
More and more companies are trying out a four-day workweek and seeing a lot of success in terms of work-life balance and, in some cases, even an increase in revenue.
Now we’re seeing a country move towards a shorter working week. The United Arab Emirates just announced that they would be adopting a four-and-a-half-day working week, starting January 1, 2022.
This decision makes the UAE the first country in the world to implement a shorter working week than the five-day global standard, according to the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM).
Iceland has already experimented with a four-day week in recent years.
This move also comes with new working hours that will become 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Fridays.
The shorter working day on Friday will accommodate the Islamic holy prayers every Friday, which will be held at 1:15 p.m. across the UAE.
The UAE's weekends are on Friday and Saturday right now, but they'll shift to Saturday and Sunday beginning next month.
This change will apply to federal government workers and will give them the flexibility to work from home and shift the hours around to fit their needs while still completing the set number of weekly hours required from them, according to WAM.
The UAE government says the change will improve work-life balance while also enhancing trade opportunities and the performance of workers.
“From an economic perspective, the new working week will better align the UAE with global markets, reflecting the country’s strategic status on the global economic map,” the statement in WAM said.
“It will ensure smooth financial, trade and economic transactions with countries that follow a Saturday/Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger international business links and opportunities for thousands of UAE-based and multinational companies.”
The success of shorter workweeks has been so overwhelming that 50% of Canadian companies are willing to try it out.
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