The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) announced on 4 October 2026 that the decision localising administrative support professions is now in force at 100% in the private sector, and that its inspection teams across the Kingdom have begun verifying compliance. That date closed the six-month grace period that Ministerial Decision 132249 of 5 April 2026 gave to fifty occupations. All 69 occupations in the decision are now reserved for Saudi nationals.
The decision is not aimed at one sector. Receptionist, administrative assistant, recruitment specialist and government relations clerk are roles most companies have, and the decision applies to any establishment employing one or more workers in any of them.
Key highlights
- The rate is 100% at entity level: work in these occupations is restricted to Saudis.
- Scope: every private-sector establishment with one or more workers in the targeted occupations. There is no minimum headcount, unlike the accounting and project management decisions.
- 69 occupations, each with its code in the Saudi Unified Classification of Occupations: 19 in force since 5 April 2026, and 50 since 4 October 2026.
- Actual work, not the title: assigning the duties of a localised occupation to a non-Saudi worker "directly or indirectly" under any other job title is an explicit breach.
- Independent of Nitaqat: the establishment's Nitaqat band does not affect the calculation and is no protection from the penalty.
- Monitoring is automated, from the job titles held in the GOSI database.
Timeline
| Group | Occupations | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Table 2 of the procedural guide | 19 | 5 April 2026, the date the decision was issued |
| Table 3 of the procedural guide | 50 | 4 October 2026, after a six-month grace period |
The fifty occupations that came into force on 4 October
The procedural guide lists them by name and code. We have grouped them here by the department they usually sit in. The English titles are our translation; the codes are the reference.
HR and organisation managers (14): HR operations manager (121201), workforce planning manager (121202), occupational classification manager (121203), hiring manager (121204), compensation manager (121205), talent manager (121206), HR development manager (121207), recruitment office manager (121209), labour office manager (121210), civil service office manager (121212), institutional development manager (121213), administrative organisation manager (121214), administrative investigation manager (121215), cybersecurity HR manager (121216).
HR specialists (13): job placement specialist (242301), HR operations specialist (242302), job and occupational classification specialist (242303), hiring specialist (242304), compensation specialist (242305), career guidance specialist (242306), labour investigator (242307), labour committee member (242308), workforce planning specialist (242309), HR monitoring specialist (242310), recruitment specialist (242311), HR consultant (242312), HR expert (242313).
Public relations, communication and protocol (10): public relations manager (122203), fundraising manager (122205), protocol manager (122206), public relations specialist (243202), internal communication specialist (243204), public awareness specialist (243205), conference and events specialist (243206), protocol specialist (243207), public relations consultant (243208), public relations expert (243209).
Front office and clerical work (6): receptionist (422601), enquiries clerk (422501), administrative assistant (412001), typist (413102), registry clerk (411002), government relations clerk (411001).
Freight, stock and customs (4): customs agent (333102), freight agent (333101), shipping clerk (432102), stock movement clerk (432103).
Language and security (3): sign language interpreter (264304), proofreader (264303), security camera monitor (541401).
The nineteen occupations in force since 5 April
Translator (264301), simultaneous interpreter (264302), linguist (264305), secretary (412002), executive secretary (334301), stenographer (413101), data entry clerk (413201), copyist (441401), HR clerk (441601), storekeeper (432101), customs clearance agent (333103), patient reception clerk (422602), complaints clerk (422502), hotel receptionist (422401), treasurer (241104), security guard (541402), personal guard (541403), labour affairs manager (121211), personnel relations manager (121208).
Where the breach actually happens
The procedural guide is explicit on three points that make this a data problem before it is a hiring problem.
The GOSI job title is the starting point. The guide states that compliance is monitored "through the system and fully automatically": the system applies the formula to the job titles in the GOSI database, then verifies wages and professional accreditation through technical integration with the supervisory bodies. The title the system sees is the one registered with GOSI, not the one in the employment contract or on the internal org chart.
Renaming the job does not solve it. The decision applies to the titles classified in the Saudi Unified Classification of Occupations and to the work the employee actually performs. A non-Saudi "office coordinator" who answers the phone and greets visitors is doing a receptionist's job, and an "operations officer" who follows the company's files with government agencies is doing a government relations clerk's job. That is what inspection teams look for on site, and no payroll report shows it.
The calculation is at entity level. The guide defines the entity as the capacity in which the ministry deals with the business for localisation purposes, representing all branches of the same economic activity owned by one establishment. One branch with a non-Saudi administrative assistant puts the whole entity in breach.
In addition, the higher rate prevails: where one of these occupations is targeted by an earlier or later decision at a different rate, the higher localisation rate applies.
Penalties
Where the rate is not met, or the duties of a localised occupation are assigned to a non-Saudi under another title, the localisation-breach penalties set out in Ministerial Decision 75913 dated 19/05/1445H and Ministerial Decision 44558 dated 03/04/1446H apply, subject to any amendments made to them. They apply regardless of the establishment's Nitaqat band.
Anyone tempted to close the gap by registering a Saudi on paper should first read how the phantom Saudization fine is calculated. It is a separate breach that comes on top of this one.
Support programmes
The guide lists an incentive package for private-sector establishments: support for sourcing and finding suitable candidates, support for training and qualifying Saudi employees, support for hiring and job stability, and priority access to the localisation support programmes available across the HRSD system.
Three tracks at once
This decision is one of three professional tracks running in parallel with Nitaqat. Accounting Saudization rises to 50% on 27 October 2026, and project management Saudization reaches 70% on 14 February 2027. Each decision has its own job codes, its own date and its own calculation, and an establishment is bound by all of them whatever its band.
Hiring that closes the gap under this decision also changes the establishment's overall Saudization rate. You can see the effect on your band in the Nitaqat calculator, bearing in mind that the calculator measures Nitaqat, not this decision: there is no rate to compute here, because the requirement is 100%.
What to do now
The grace period is over and inspections have started, so the first step is reconciliation, not hiring:
- Pull the job titles registered with GOSI for every non-Saudi worker across all branches of the entity.
- Compare them against the 69 codes in Table 1 of the guide.
- Then compare actual duties, not titles, against the same occupations. The system does not do this step for you, and it is the one the inspector does.
- Repeat the reconciliation at every hire, transfer and change of occupation, not once a year.
Establishments that connect their HR and payroll systems to the Qiwa platform see this mismatch before the ministry does. If you want that reconciliation built to run automatically on top of the systems you already have, talk to us for a free diagnostic session: we will review your data sources and identify where the titles differ from reality.
Source: Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development — Procedural Guide to the Administrative Support Professions Localisation Decision, and the ministry statement of 4 October 2026