Reluctance and indifference greet working Thursday

Dubai: The first working Thursday after the weekend shift to Friday-Saturday was received differently yesterday among employees in various government offices.

Some employees received phone calls in the morning reminding them to come to work.

"I was fast asleep thinking Thursday was still a holiday when I got a phone call from work reminding me of the new change. Eventually, I arrived at work a little late at 9am.

"Last night I was out just like any other Wednesday and completely forgot about the change in the working week," said Reiad Khalil, a Palestinian Administrator Officer at the Emiri court in Fujairah.

Some government employees, home makers and students, were reluctant to accept the change and anticipated the weeks to come to be dreadfully long and tedious, while the majority of those working in the public sector were indifferent.

Mona Qassim, a UAE national employee at Dubai Municipality, was upset with the working day because Thursdays were usually spent putting in extra hours at the office so she could start the beginning of the week with all loose ends tied up.

"I used to have everything done by the beginning of the week, and I would also have lunch with my mother. But now everything's changed. The aspect of changing my social life is not a worry, but my work schedule will be affected and this is a problem," she said.

While the Customer Service Centre at Dubai Municipality yesterday reported a 10 per cent increase in the number of clients dealing with the Municipality as compared to other working days, work at Sharjah Municipality ran smoothly as usual.

"It is like any other regular day. I don't feel there's much of a difference with the change of weekend because we still get our two days of rest," said Sa'ad Faraj, a UAE national secretary at Sharjah Municipality.

Hassan Ahmad Mohammad, an Egyptian Customer Service Officer in Fujairah, said that there is no difference in public queries and that amount of work is the same as usual.

"I have prepared myself since yesterday to treat today as a working day, so I am already used to it," he said.

However, some public departments witnessed a quieter day than usual.

"I am a little upset because the weekend change feels a little bit abnormal," said Jihad Mardini, a Palestinian communications employee at the Sharjah Medical Zone District. "It is very quiet today, so it has become boring," he said.

"For the last 13 years I had Thursday as my off day and now suddenly I have to go to classes on Thursday. It feels so strange," said Hassan Ahmad, a UAE national first year university student.

Thabit Al Timimi, an Iraqi who works at the Ministry of Justice in Abu Dhabi, said the new week-end did not affect him.

"On the contrary, I think it's better than before especially for my job. I deal with international corporations and due to our Thursday-Friday weekend and their Saturday-Sunday weekend, four days are lost which is bad for the business, so with the new system, we gain one day," he said.

Shady Sabbagh, a Syrian banker, said he did not feel any change with the weekend shift. "We're still getting two days off and instead of the week starting on Saturday, it starts now on Sunday," he said.

"It felt a bit strange to work on Thursday as it is the day I usually relax and spend time with my family and friends, but I'm sure we'll soon adapt to the change," Amaar Ahmad Al Shaikh, a UAE national working at the Licensing Department, Fujairah Chamber of Commerce.

Seargent Eisa Mohammad from the Traffic Department, said "I felt weird to be working today, but then I remember that others are working also because before the change in the weekends, I used to work on some Thursdays and I used to feel sad and envious thinking everyone is off and I am working. However, this Thursday I did not feel bad."

Hana Al Sayegh, an employee at the Ministry of Labour thinks that the new weekend change is for the best. "We could not spend a long time outside on Friday, as we cannot leave the house before evening prayer and we had to get back early for the next working day. But now we stay out late and rest on Saturday," she said.

Retailers keep fingers crossed over impact on sales

The new days off could have a major impact on regional retail companies, which usually bank on Thursday sales for a major portion of their weekly buying.

But retailers who spoke to Gulf News yesterday evening said it is still too early to tell whether consumers have changed their shopping habits.

"Last week was an extended weekend for most people so today (Thursday) is our first true test," said Anthony O'Donnell, general manager of Dubai-based Landmark International, which runs brands including fashion store New Look.

"At the end of the day we'll get a clearer picture of whether people have changed their shopping habits and if Thursday will be overtaken by Friday.

"But it will take a while before we find any consistent pattern."

Nanda Kumar, managing of advertising and promotions at Emke Group, which runs Lulu Hypermarkets, said current back-to-school buying is distorting spending patterns, making it difficult to analyse the effect of the new weekend.

Ramesh Prabhakar, managing partner of the Rivoli Group (which runs a host of international luxury brands), expects the shift to have a positive impact.

"We have to wait until at least two weeks to tell the exact outcome, but I think the effects of two full days off will give people more time for leisure, entertainment and shopping," he said.