Saudi Arabia considering four-day working week, labour minister says

Saudi Arabia is considering reducing the working week to four days, the country's human resources and social development minister said Wednesday.

The Gulf kingdom is also considering adjusting its five-day working week to four and a half days, minister Ahmed Al-Rajhi said in his statement.

Riyadh aims to “attract more investors and create more job opportunities” with the reduction, al-Rajhi said.

The move is part of a wider plan to revamp the kingdom's labour market strategy, he said, including the creation of some 1.8 million jobs.

The minister said he is looking to implement nationalisation schemes through which Saudi companies and enterprises must employ a certain number of Saudi nationals.

There are currently 1.9 million Saudis in the country's workforce, he added.

The United Arab Emirates began adopting a four-and-a-half-day work week in January.