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Dubai to trial four-day working week for government employees over summer

Pilot scheme aims to improve work-life balance for workforce

Tom Evans

August 07, 2024

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Dubai will trial a four-day working week with shorter daily hours for many government staff this summer.

Work will be suspended on Fridays and the working day will be reduced to seven hours for 15 government organisations from August 12 to September 30.

It is part of a pilot scheme launched by the Dubai Government Human Resources Department, called Our Summer is Flexible, which aims to enhance performance and quality of life for employees.

Staff were asked to fill out a survey on summer working hours, and proposals to cut office time in August and September received great support, state news agency Wam reported.

The human resources department will monitor observations and feedback to submit final recommendations on whether the pilot scheme should become a long-term policy for future summers.

Sharjah introduced a four-day working week in 2022, after the UAE government switched to a four-and-half day week in January that year.

The biggest trial of a four-day working week took place in the UK in 2022. Afterwards, most of the 61 companies involved pledged to continue with the policy, while a third said they had switched to the new model permanently.

None of the 2,900 trial participants wanted to return to a five-day week and all the companies involved reported lower stress and better health among employees.

Wednesday's announcement contributes to a directive issued by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to turn Dubai into the world’s best city to live in.

In May, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, approved the Quality of Life Strategy that includes increasing the length of beach cycling tracks by 300 per cent, extending the length of night swimming beaches by 60 per cent, and designating new beaches for women.

Abdullah Al Falasi, director general of the Dubai Government Human Resources Department, said: “We aim to improve the quality of life of employees and enhance the sustainability of government resources, which ultimately contributes to consolidating Dubai’s global position as a preferred city for living and working by providing a new model experience that integrates the elements of quality of life.”

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: August 09, 2024, 6:20 AM
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