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Muscat: Close on the heels of the Manpower Ministry’s appeal to young Omanis to take up jobs in the private sector, the Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) has urged the sector to make its option attractive by adopting a five-day week.
“The five-day week would definitely make it attractive for young Omanis to take jobs without hesitation in the private sector,” Khalil Bin Abdullah Al Khonji, the OCCI Chairman, told Gulf News over the telephone from Malaysia where he is currently on a visit.
He added that the five-day week would not only support the government efforts to nationalise jobs but help increase the private sector’s contribution to the Omanisation drive.
He said he would prefer two weekly day offs on Fridays and Saturdays for the private sector.
“That way we would not lose four working days with the rest of the world and this would help the economy,” he said, adding that by increasing daily working hours the employers can make up for the day’s loss.
The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) has already implemented a five-day week and Al Khonji said it was up to private companies to take the lead.
“We must keep up with the current and future trends of domestic and foreign development and the economic process,” he said.
He praised those private sector establishments that had already switched over to the new system.
Meanwhile, the Saud Bahwan Group, a major automobile player in the country, has already started working five-days a week from this month.
According to the new schedule, the group’s corporate offices work from Sunday to Thursday with Friday and Saturdays being a weekend holiday and have a straight working shift from 8.30am to 6pm with a half-hour lunch break.
“Omani nationals now constitute a large and vital part of our workforce,” said Shaikh Saud Salim Bahwan, Chairman Saud Bahwan Group. “An extended weekend will enable them to spend more time with their families,” he added.
Earlier this year, the Zubair Group also adopted a five-day week and many others are expected to follow suit, especially after Al Khonji’s appeal.
“We hope by the end of the year most of the business in the country will be conducted from Sundays to Thursdays with two weekly day offs on Fridays and Saturdays,” he said.
In reply to a question on the government sector, he said: “We, the private sector on our part would like to adopt this Friday-Saturday weekend as it is followed in most parts of the world but we can’t speak about the government decision.”
He hoped that the public sector would soon adopt the new weekend.
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