New UAE Weekend to Start Friday Afternoon Through Sunday.
The United Arab Emirates Government announced on Twitter on the 7th of December, 2021 that UAE weekend will begin Friday afternoon come next year, 2022.
The UAE will ring in the new year by transitioning to a 4 1/2-day work week starting Jan. 1, 2022, applicable to all federal employees in the country and aimed at “longer weekends to boost productivity and improve work-life balance.” The UAE will hold Friday sermons and prayers after 1:15 p.m. throughout the year.
The World’s Shortest Weekend.
The UAE government recently adopted the world’s shortest workweek, which will see public sector employees enjoy a two-and-a-half-day weekend from the new year.
In Sharjah, the new weekend would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while in the rest of the Emirates, Friday would be a working day till noon. As mentioned earlier, this move will help boost work-life balance and align the Emirates with global markets.
Many countries have conducted four-day week trials and the response has been fairly good. But no government has officially declared a workweek of less than five days. Nevertheless, many countries do have work hours that are less than the UAE’s work hours.
Industry executives noted that, as a result of the change in weekends from January 1, 2022, the private sector will have no option but to switch to Saturday-Sunday weekends sooner or later, in order to maintain work-life balance for employees.
“It would appear that the UAE now has the shortest permanent workweek for the public sector. Several countries around the world such as Scotland, Japan, New Zealand and Spain have introduced four-day week trials, which are proving to be successful,” said Deepa Sud, CEO at Plum Jobs, a boutique HR advisory, executive search and business skills coaching firm based in Dubai.
Managing director of Mindfield Resources Anurag Kumar agreed, but pointed out that several countries in the developed world have a workweek measured in hours — some as low as 26 hours. “So, it is not so much in the days, as it is in the hours at work,” he said.
Deepa Sud added that SMEs and large establishments in the private sector will eventually need to move to a Saturday-Sunday weekend.
The Real Estate Sector and the New UAE Weekend.
As it is well know that the 3 basic necessities of life are categories as:
- Food
- Clothing
- Shelter (Real Estate cum Housing)
This 3 essentials of life direct our everyday activities on a 24/7 basis. As a result, when most sectors would take a good rest during the extended weekend, those who operate in these sectors would have to make do with shifts and timings.
The Real Estate Industry is known to be a round the clock profession as people, individuals, and organizations are always in need of Properties to BUY, RENT, and SALE, both on a Commercial, Residential, and Investment level.
Summary.
As the UAE forges ahead with continuing to establish itself as a prominent business hub globally with such diverse business opportunities, its alignment of Saturday-Sunday weekends will significantly enhance its activities and productivity, as firms will be operating in the same global working week pattern.
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