Business leaders criticise ‘excessive’ length of Eid holiday

By Omar Obeidat

AMMAN – Private sector representatives on Wednesday complained that the long public holiday for Eid Al Adha, which this year lasts an entire week, will curb productivity and cause losses.

On Tuesday, the government announced that all ministries and public institutions will observe a holiday between Saturday, November 5, and Thursday, November 10, on the occasion of Eid Al Adha.

In a statement issued yesterday the Talal Abu Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-Org) said too many and too lengthy public holidays have a negative impact on the productivity of private firms, ultimately slowing down the Kingdom’s economic growth.

The organisation, which is one of the largest Arab groups of professional services firms in the fields of auditing, consulting, training, human resources and other services, criticised the number of public holidays in Jordan, which at around 30 days each year is among the highest in the world.

The group indicated that the high number of holidays holds the productivity rate of Jordanians at only 50 per cent, adding that it has previously asked officials to reconsider the holidays identified in the calendar.

Terminating government and private sector services and dropping out from international banking and business for eight consecutive days is a strange choice to make in the modern world, the statement said, adding that this stretch of work-free days will cause financial losses to the group.

Nazzal Armouti, a businessman and deputy chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Industry, agreed that the Eid holiday is “too long”, noting that in addition to its negative impact on productivity, it will cause additional production costs on industries and lead to confusion in production lines.

He said that the government should have announced only four days for the Eid holiday, making workers and employees resume work on Wednesday and Thursday.

Armouti said the decision to have a week-long holiday was not well considered.

Industrialist Musa Saket said that in general, the government should work on reducing the number of holidays per year, which he said should not exceed 14 days.

Ahmad Abu Eideh, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Jordan, said the bank’s branches in Dubai will have only three days off for Eid Al Adha, while businesses in the Kingdom will in practical terms be disconnected from the world for around 10 days.

“Maybe some businesses can operate during this holiday, but financial institutions cannot function if the Central Bank is off,” he noted.

jordantimes