HR Ministry’s ‘Updated Nitaqat’ program to provide 340,000 jobs by 2024

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) launched the “updated Nitaqat” program in accordance with the labor market strategy, which aims to improve market efficiency and create new attractive jobs for citizens.

The updated program offers three main advantages:

(1) A well-defined localization plan for the next three years aimed at enhancing organizational stability in private sector establishments.

(2) Instead of the current localization percentage system, a direct relationship between the number of employees and the required rates of localization for each establishment via a linear equation proportional to the number of employees.

(3) A simpler program design to improve customer experience by integrating common activities, which currently stand at 32 rather than 85 within Nitaqat.

The new update is consistent with the Ministry’s other Saudization initiatives, as it will contribute to the creation of more than 340,000 jobs by 2024.

The Ministry confirmed that the program was developed in coordination with appropriate government agencies and the private sector, which plays a critical role in labor market decision-making.

The first version of the Nitaqat program was launched in 2011 to improve the localization of jobs and set a minimum wage for Saudis in the private sector. The minimum wage was increased to 3,000 riyals initially, and then to 4,000 riyals in the first quarter of this year.

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