Saudization by Profession: Private Sector Guide

Saudization by profession means the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development issues a separate decision for a group of professions or an activity, such as sales, marketing, health, information technology or tourism, and each decision sets its own required share of Saudi workers, its own start date and the job titles it covers. There is no single fixed list that applies the same way to every company. To know where you stand, read the decision and the procedural guide for each profession you employ, then compare them with the occupations registered for your staff on Qiwa.

What profession-based Saudization decisions are

Saudization, also called localization, works on two layers in the private sector. The first is Nitaqat, which measures the overall share of Saudi employees in an establishment based on its activity and size. The second is a series of decisions that target specific professions or activities. These decisions require that a certain share of the people working in named job titles be Saudi, or in some cases limit a job title to Saudis.

Each decision is published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, usually with a procedural guide. The guide is the document a company should actually work from, because it typically sets out:

The job titles covered, matched to the occupation names used in the ministry’s systems.
The required Saudization percentage for those titles.
The start date, and in some cases a phased timeline.
Which establishments are covered, for example only those with a minimum number of workers in the targeted titles.
The conditions for a Saudi employee to count, such as a minimum wage or proper registration with GOSI.

Because every decision carries its own figures, you should not apply one decision’s percentage to another profession, and you should not rely on numbers quoted in social media posts or older articles.

Saudization, HR & Labor — Knowledge Base — Saudization, HR & Labor

Sectors and professions covered by localization decisions

Over recent years the ministry has issued localization decisions for a wide range of professions. The fields business owners search for most often include:

Sales and marketing: decisions covering marketing, advertising and sales job titles in private sector companies.
Health: decisions covering health professions such as pharmacy, dentistry and several medical and technical specialties, usually issued with the Ministry of Health.
Communications and information technology: decisions covering technical and engineering titles in this field.
Tourism and hospitality: decisions covering jobs in hotels, travel and tourism activities.
Other professional fields: such as accounting, engineering, procurement, project management and customer service.

Many people search for Saudization plans together with a specific count of professions. Counts like these change as new decisions are added and as new phases take effect, so the reliable source is the ministry’s own list of decisions and guides, not a number in a headline. The same applies to claims that a whole sector has been fully localized: whether a given title is localized, and at what level, is set in the decision for that title.

How profession localization works alongside Nitaqat

A company has to meet both layers at the same time. A good Nitaqat band does not exempt you from a profession decision, and meeting a profession decision does not by itself lift your Nitaqat band.

Nitaqat looks at the whole establishment: all Saudi and non-Saudi employees, measured against the target for your activity and size.
Profession decisions look at a slice of your workforce: only the employees registered under the covered job titles.

In practice, a retailer can sit in a healthy Nitaqat band while its marketing team falls short of the marketing decision, or the reverse. Falling behind on Nitaqat restricts the services available to the establishment, and missing a profession decision can be recorded as a violation under the violations and penalties schedule that the ministry publishes.

How to check which of your jobs are affected

List your job titles from Qiwa. Review the occupation registered for every employee in your establishment’s Qiwa account. The occupation in the system is what counts, not the title on a business card.
Find the relevant decisions. On the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, look up the localization decisions and procedural guides for your activity and for each profession group you employ.
Match titles to the guide. Mark each registered occupation that appears in a guide, and note the required percentage, start date and coverage conditions.
Calculate your current share. For each covered group, count the Saudi employees who meet the counting conditions and compare them with the total in that group.
Check your Nitaqat band. Confirm your overall position on Qiwa so you see both layers together.
Correct inaccurate titles. If a registered occupation does not match the work the person really does, correct it through the proper procedure. Changing titles only to escape a decision invites a violation; it is not a solution.

Planning to comply: hiring, training, Tamheer and HRDF

A localization decision is much easier to meet when you plan before its start date. A practical plan has four parts.

Workforce map

Build a simple table of the covered titles showing headcount, Saudi headcount and the gap to close. Add expected resignations, contract end dates for non-Saudi staff and any new roles you plan to open.

Hiring

Write job descriptions that match the registered occupations and start recruiting Saudi candidates early. Make sure each new hire is registered with GOSI and under the right occupation on Qiwa, because an employee who is not registered properly may not count toward the decision.

Training and Tamheer

Tamheer is an on-the-job training program for Saudi graduates in private sector companies, offered through the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF, known as Hadaf). It lets a company train young Saudis in real roles before offering them jobs. Internal training, and promoting existing Saudi staff into covered titles, also help close the gap.

Support programs

HRDF offers programs that support hiring and training Saudis, including wage support and training support in some cases. Their conditions and amounts are published by HRDF and change from time to time, so check them on HRDF’s official channels before you build them into a budget.

Common mistakes

Applying one decision’s percentage to every profession.
Relying on a headline count of professions instead of the decision and its guide.
Ignoring the start date and the phases until the deadline is close.
Counting Saudi employees who do not meet the counting conditions in the guide.
Assuming a good Nitaqat band also covers profession decisions.
Registering employees under titles that do not reflect their real work.

Frequently asked questions

Where are Saudization plans by profession published?

On the website and official channels of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. Each decision comes with a procedural guide that gives the covered titles, the percentage and the start date.

Is there one list of localized professions for the whole private sector?

No single number tells the whole story. Each decision has its own scope and conditions, and new decisions are added over time, so check the decisions in force for the professions you employ.

Does marketing Saudization apply to small companies?

That depends on the coverage conditions in the marketing decision’s guide, which may depend on how many people you employ in the covered titles. Read the guide and apply it to your own headcount.

How is Saudization in the health sector different?

Health decisions cover specific professions such as pharmacy and dentistry, and the Saudi employee usually needs the professional classification required to practice. Check the decision and the requirements of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.

Is every IT job now reserved for Saudis?

Some headlines describe a whole sector as fully localized. In practice, IT decisions name the titles they cover and set a percentage for each, so read the decision for every title you employ.

An Innovant advisor can map your registered titles against the current decisions and build a hiring and training plan with you.

Book a free consultation with an Innovant advisor.

Saudization Plans by Profession in the Private Sector