Riyadh business district falls quiet under missile threats

• Employees told to work from home
• Construction projects continue
• Saudi Arabia resilient, analysts say

Riyadh’s main business district fell unusually quiet at the start of the week, with companies telling staff to work from home despite the capital being less exposed to attacks than other Gulf cities.

The limited disruption within the capital since the start of the Iran war underlines the city’s relative insulation from the conflict compared to other Gulf states.

However, analysts say temporary shifts such as remote working are unlikely to cause too much alarm, but the greater disruption the war creates, the more it could threaten perceptions of stability in Saudi Arabia.

A number of employees for Saudi and international companies based in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), told AGBI that they are under orders to work from home. No official reason was given.

KAFD has made no public statements on the decision and declined to comment. 

While companies in neighbouring Gulf cities like Dubai have altered working practices in response to the barrage of drones and missiles from Iran, Riyadh has been less affected.

Approximately 20,000 people work in KAFD and they have generally continued working in their offices. Schools across the capital have remained open, with few exceptions.

However, at the start of this working week, the district was all but deserted. AGBI saw virtually no obvious commercial activity. 

While construction work was underway, with hundreds of labourers working on new buildings and infrastructure such as the forthcoming monorail, restaurants were open but empty.

Across town, in the upmarket district of Olaya, employees working at the Al Faisaliah Tower were also told not to come to work. The building markets itself as “Saudi Arabia’s first skyscraper”.

The kingdom has faced sustained attacks, though less intense than in some coastal neighbours. Saudi Arabia’s eastern province has been the main target, with authorities reporting seven missiles intercepted on Tuesday morning.

The capital has not completely avoided being targeted. Early last week, loud blasts were heard by Riyadh residents. The Defence Ministry later said that four ballistic missiles were fired at the capital and the eastern province.

No missile or drone hits have yet been reported in Riyadh, although there have been multiple injuries from intercepted missile debris in the vicinity of the capital.

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Companies advising employees to work from home may have a limited impact on the country’s business reputation, said Tim Callen, a former International Monetary Fund mission chief to Saudi Arabia.

“It’s a perception issue,” he said.

Most of the companies affected are in industries where working from home is not unusual, Callen said, meaning that the orders to avoid KAFD are less likely to have a psychological impact.

Employees working in KAFD are also far more likely to be local nationals compared with workers in business districts elsewhere in the Gulf, making them less likely to want to leave the country.

“Saudi Arabia won’t be as impacted as other Gulf countries,” said Callen.