What changed

HRSD has published and begun enforcing role- and sector-specific increases to Saudization requirements. Three sets of decisions are now in force together: marketing and sales professions, engineering occupations, and the first phase of the tourism Saudization programme.

Alongside the decisions the ministry has issued operational guidance and procedural guides setting out counting rules, grace periods and enforcement timelines. Those guides — not the headline percentages alone — determine whether a given employee counts toward an establishment’s target.

Tourism: the first phase is now in effect

The tourism Saudization programme covers 28 professions, with phased rates specified across them. Its first phase took effect on 22 April 2026, at the end of the grace period.

This is the newest of the three tracks and the one least likely to be reflected in existing workforce plans. Establishments operating in the covered tourism professions should confirm which of the 28 fall within their headcount before assessing exposure, and read the phased rate applying to each from the ministry’s procedural guide.

Marketing, sales and engineering

Marketing and sales professions were raised to 60% for qualifying establishments. The decisions attach a minimum monthly wage of SAR 5,500 for marketing roles to count toward the target — a salary condition, not only a headcount one.

For engineering occupations, implementation began on 30 June 2026. Both tracks are covered in detail in our earlier reports, linked at the end of this article.

Why it matters

These are employer obligations, not advisory targets. They change how workforce composition is calculated and expose non-compliant establishments to fines and other enforcement action.

The salary threshold is the detail most often missed. An establishment can meet a headcount percentage on paper and still fall short if roles counted toward the marketing target sit below the SAR 5,500 monthly wage condition.

What employers should do