The “4 days a week” system, which started to be tested in the United Kingdom last year, was adopted by many companies in the first place, while Belgium officially launched the 4-day working system, a first in the world. On the other hand, the South Korean government made a proposal to the parliament to increase the weekly working time to 69 hours.
While Western countries are rapidly transitioning to a 4-day working model, the Saudi Arabian government is considering switching to a 3-day vacation, that is, 4-day-a-week working system.
May be the first Middle East and Gulf country to switch to this system
According to the news of Al Madina, the local mainstream newspaper of Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development of Saudi Arabia has already started planning for the transition to a 4-day working system. Responding to the allegations on the subject on its Twitter account, the ministry announced that they are currently making plans to understand whether it is possible to transition to this system, and if the transition is made, the system will be encouraged for the implementation of small and medium-sized businesses, especially local and international businesses in the country.
In addition, Saudi Arabia is known as the first country among the Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to switch to a 2-day holiday system. As of January 1 last year, a 2.5 holiday system was introduced in Saudi Arabia. In this system, all companies and private institutions, especially government offices, were closed at 12:00 noon on Fridays.
While it is not known when Saudi Arabia, which has upset many European countries regarding the working system, will switch to this system, the new system is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2024, according to sources close to the government.
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