THE two-day weekend is a basic right of the employee in the private sector. People in most developed countries are granted two-day weekends, and we should not be an exception. It has been proven that the extended weekend would reflect positively on the productivity of employees. The private sector that is objecting to the two-day weekend and the loss of working hours should look at the positive side of the issue. Reducing the number of hours may force the private sector to employ more people but at the same time, productivity will increase and so will profit. In addition it will reduce the unemployment rate, which will reflect positively on the economy. The additional day-off should be Saturday instead of Thursday. Adding Saturday as a weekend will streamline us with the rest of the world who have Saturday and Sunday for the weekend. Businesses in the Kingdom are disconnected with the rest of the world for four days of the week because of our Thursday-Friday weekend. The private sector in my opinion should not worry about lost work hours. At the end of the day, they will benefit from the two-day weekend because of its positive impact on the work environment. Businesses should also be flexible about making Saturday a day-off instead of Thursday as everyone agrees that Friday should be a rest day.
