New York Times — The United Arab Emirates, a hub of international commerce, announced Tuesday that it would shift its weekends to bring them more in line with the Western calendar and global markets, once again showing its willingness to part ways with its Arab neighbours.
The government declared a four-and-a-half day workweek, moving the weekend from Friday and Saturday to Saturday and Sunday. It made Friday, the Muslim holy day, a half-day of work that ends at noon, just in time for the communal prayer that is normally held in mosques and customarily observed by Muslims.
Like Sunday for Christian communities in the West, Friday is customarily the day Muslims take off to worship and unite with family and friends, and in most Arab countries, the standard workweek is Sunday through Thursday. Changing that practice, experts say, shows just how ready the U.A.E. is to forgo tradition in order to attract foreign investment and talent.
In a statement, the Emirati government said the new weekend, which will begin on Jan. 1, “enhances the integration of the national economy with the various economies and global markets and ensures the matching of the days of exchanges and commercial and financial transactions.”
Private businesses can set their own work weeks, but the new schedule, which applies to government agencies, creates a new set of expectations.
The U.A.E., an oil-rich state on the Persian Gulf, has long been a commercial and tourism center, heavily dependent on a foreign workforce that outnumbers its citizens.
