Rashid Muhammad Al-Fouzan Al-Riyadh newspaper DEBATES and arguments over employing Saudi men and women in the private sector are not going to cease. Now these debates revolve around two issues – fixing work hours and granting a two-day weekend. A section of people supports it by saying that it is useful and will benefit the private sector. Another section rejects the concept of a two-day weekend or modifying work hours. When we debate such an issue and ponder over what is right and what is wrong, we must look into what is in existence in the developed world in this respect. People in these countries are more experienced and have long expertise in this field. They have more accurate statistical figures with regard to these issues compared to other countries. We have to examine what is their practice before hurriedly taking any decision. Firstly, we can examine the work hours of each employee. In most cases, there are eight hours daily for five days – a total of 40 hours a week. If an employee has to work more hours, then he has to be compensated. As for weekends, it depends on the type of job or how it affects the people directly. For example, there are separate systems for supermarkets and restaurants as they are supposed to serve people constantly. However, there are some activities that are not essentially required by the people during weekend. This is the case of most of the commercial shops. People don't mind waiting another day to fulfill their needs from such shops. Here I am talking about the significance of hiring Saudi citizens, both men and women, in the private sector. For this, it is essential to fix work hours and make them mandatory for all without any exception. It should be applied strictly and comprehensively so as to succeed and realize its goals. It is significant that it will save a lot of electricity consumption and reduce the hustle and bustle of traffic movement in the city. Nationalization of jobs is not possible without fixing work hours. As far as some business and foreign workers are concerned, they put their expat staff to work tirelessly for 18 hours a day. How can citizens be expected to put up with such conditions? Regarding employment in companies, codifying work hours in a clear way would help save a lot and provide opportunity for others at the workplace, in addition to allowing workers to have available free time for social life. As things stand now, I believe that fixing of work hours and two-day weekly off is extremely difficult for numerous reasons. If the Ministry of Labor is firm on it, I will encourage it. But it should be applied in its entirety so as to enforce uniformity in all jobs and trades. When we see the work map changing, replacing of foreigners with Saudis would be faster and allow unlimited job opportunities in all sectors.
