The Masjidi al-Haram (Kaaba) complex in Mecca is always busy with pilgrims during the hajj season. The staff are working round the clock! Running and mopping at the same time.
With owning the most valuable company in the world, Saudi ARAMCO citing gains and profits of $161 billion USD last year (driving oil prices up 46% from the Ukraine-Russian war), Saudi Arabia leaks news that its government may consider adding a 4-day work week as the norm. This follows the United Arab Emirates which launched a 4.5 day workweek in January, 2022.
“The extended weekend comes as part of the UAE government’s efforts to boost work-life balance and enhance social wellbeing, while increasing performance to advance the UAE’s economic competitiveness,” said UAE state news agency WAM.
The Saudi announcement came in response to an inquiry on Twitter to the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development which noted (in Arabic) that it’s considering the move to a 3-day weekend as well. According to the Arabic daily newspaper Al Madina, the Saudi ministry is taking a deep dive looking into its current current labor market, one we should note which is fraught with human rights violations (plenty of African housemaid videos on Youtube), and it will make a decision from there.
With Saudi Arabia’s growth of mega-projects as part of the Saudi Vision 2030, projects like Neom, The Line, Trojena ski hills in the desert, and a new Kabaa in Riyadh called the Mukaab, Saudi Arabia is processing hard the reasons why and how anyone from the outside world will want to work and live there. To fulfill its mission of being a technological superstar it’s going to have to create a few million Saudi tech geeks and lure hundreds of thousands of skilled and educated foreigners into the labor force.
What motivates people to work beyond money? Making an impact on the world, enjoying your workplace and being able to spend a considerable amount of valuable time off work in leisure, play, hobbies and hanging out with the family. The 4-day work week is a more sustainable solution for the planet. And studies and pilots in Europe suggest people can do as much in 32 hours as they can spreading it out over 40+.
Are we just held captive by the workplace looking for ways to escape? Working less gives us more time to refresh.
We do hope to see however that these 4-day workweeks trickle down to household staff, which complain of being held hostage and working unreasonable hours. Construction workers are exploited as well, Human Rights Watch reports, as Saudi works to create a brighter future for its people and the world.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
